UNICEF Spain has disseminated a report in which it examines how childhood impacts the private healthcare business and warns that, despite the sector having a solid structure to manage general clinical risks, there is still a lack of transparency and weak specific accountability regarding the care of children and adolescents.
The document evaluates the direct impact and performance of the private health system in Spain on the life, development, well-being, and rights of children and adolescents. For this analysis, 12 companies from three key areas were reviewed: insurance, hospital, and pharmaceutical.
The main results indicate that the health sector achieves an average score of 1.28 out of 2, placing it in the category of Indirect Integration. The study emphasizes that the sector suffers from a notable lack of transparency and specific accountability, as most companies do not make public indicators or disaggregated metrics on childhood, such as pediatric adverse events, response times, or family satisfaction.
Among the strengths, the dimension of safety and quality of products and services stands out (1.54/2), based on robust pharmacovigilance systems, regulatory compliance, clinical protocols, and safety committees.
On the opposite side, the most pronounced weakness is found in child protection and safeguarding, which receives the lowest score with 0.93 out of 2. Although companies have general ethical commitments, they barely have clear and adapted operational procedures to intervene in cases of suspected abuse, mistreatment, or negligence towards minors.
To correct these shortcomings, the recommendations suggest that the sector move from an approach focused only on clinical and regulatory aspects to an operational integration of children's rights. It is proposed to design specific operational protocols and implement mandatory and periodic training in this area.
Additionally, it is suggested to promote care and digital environments suitable for the maturity level of children, publish specific metrics and indicators on quality and child safety, incorporate mental health early in routine pediatric care, and strengthen effective participation mechanisms that allow for collecting and considering the opinions and expectations of children and adolescents in decisions that affect them.
The majority of companies do not integrate childhood into their business model
The report from UNICEF Spain, prepared together with the Social Innovation and Sustainability Center of IE University, broadens the focus and studies 75 companies from ten key sectors for childhood: food, consumption, energy, aesthetics, media, health, financial services, technology and gaming, textiles and footwear, and tourism and travel.
According to the general conclusions, Spanish companies hardly consider childhood as a stakeholder group in their corporate strategy. Seven out of ten analyzed companies do not incorporate childhood into their business model, despite the impact their activity generates on children and adolescents.
"While many companies have made progress in human rights, childhood remains underrepresented. In some sectors, it is taken into account when designing products and services, but it is forgotten in their marketing and advertising campaigns," they indicate from UNICEF.