FHU CHILD "Reducing mortality and severe morbidity in the first 3 years of life" is labeled by the Assistance Publique Hôpitaux de Paris (AP-HP), Inserm and the Universities of Ile-de-France. It was structured for 5 years (2020-2024) to respond to the challenge of the historic increase in peacetime of infant mortality in France and more generally of mortality under 3 years of age and the severe morbidity associated with it. The FHU CHILD partners will focus their efforts on improving the prevention, diagnosis and management of acute infections, sudden unexpected infant death and physical abuse.

Acute infections

Sudden unexpected infant death (SUID)

Child physical abuse

Chuang 2017

The mortality rate of children < 3 years old is twice higher in France than in countries with similar economies but has been stable for the last 15 years, about 3.6/1000 living births, although it has markedly decreased elsewhere. In addition to these 1200 potentially avoidable child deaths each year, tens of thousands of children will experience avoidable severe morbidity, with life-long consequences and sequelae.

Want to know more about the increase of infant mortality in France?

Watch this short presentation by the director of the FHU CHILD, Professor Martin Chalumeau at the "quart d'heure Pasteur médecine".

FHU added value and partners' past achievements

FHU CHILD partners bring together all the necessary skills (artificial intelligence, biostatistics, epidemiology, human motivation, complex interventional research, fundamental bacteriology and immunology) and resources (2 omics platforms, biobanks, birth cohorts, registries, repeated cross-sectional studies, access to massive databases) needed to achieve its goals.

The FHU network added value is to facilitate collaborations via active endeavours, to achieve a visible and attractive critical mass to recruit new talents and obtain RHU, ANR and European funding and new industrial partnerships, and to influence public health decisions.

During the 2014-19 period, academic partners of the FHU CHILD:

obtained

>15 m€

in grants

included

>100 000 children

in their studies

published

>900

original articles in peer-reviewed journals