Developing a Coordinated Response to Counter the Public Health Menace of Street Children

Street children refer to a vulnerable population of children and adolescents / youth for whom the street has become home and/or source of income for their as well as their family’s survival [1,2]. On a worldwide scale, a remarkable rise in the number of street children has been detected, as evidenced by the recent estimates which suggest that within the range of 100-150 million children are either living or working in the street [1,3,4]. Furthermore, most of them have to deal with multiple obstacles; including different forms of abuse which itself questions the integrity of their survival [5,6]. Acknowledging the global presence, enormous burden and involvement of dependant population, negative influence on the quality of life, and long-term impacts, the public health professionals have realized street children as a marginalized group of the society which needs immense attention and care [7].