Children are our most precious resource, and healthy children are the cornerstone of a healthy global community. But without access to good health care, children cannot grow up to become the healthy, thriving adults all parents hope for.

For philanthropists, life experience and personal passion are often what draws donors to specific areas of medical research. Understanding the preventive care landscape in the U.S. is a crucial first step in ensuring medical philanthropy is effective, especially when it comes to preventing pediatric disease and illness.

Preventive care in the childhood years, including immunizations, screening tests and assessments, are critical to ensuring children are set up for a healthy future. While preventive care has come a long way over the past three decades, there is much more that can be done to ensure that children — from birth all the way through to adolescence — are given every opportunity not only to survive well into their adult years, but to thrive.

The Milken Institute Center for Strategic Philanthropy’s latest report details the pediatric preventive care landscape, including ways philanthropists can devote resources to influence change in this vital area. By taking the time to understand the pediatric preventive health landscape and the bodies that issue policy recommendations, strategic philanthropists can lay the foundation for a healthy, equitable future for children, and for us all.

Click here to download An Overview of Pediatric Preventive Health in the United States.