Health and Wellbeing of Street Children and Youth

Key Points- Maintaining physical and mental health and wellbeing is challenging for street children and youth given the inherent risks of their street contexts.- Physical illnesses include the effects of eating poor quality food, drinking, bathing and cooking with dirty water and sexually transmitted diseases.- Lack of free healthcare, discrimination by healthcare workers, and poor education contribute to inconsistent or non-existent access to medical treatment.- Alcohol and drug abuse are common in all three cities, used as both a ‘treatment’ and as a coping strategy