The child adopted abroad. Primary care paediatrician´s role

More of 40000 children coming from more than 100 countries are adopted in the world every year. International adoption has experienced an extraordinary increase recently, specially in our country. Spain has been the first country in the European Union and the second in the world in absolute numbers of annual adoptions in 2004 (and the first of the world in the rate of adoption per population). According to data from the Ministry of Work and Social Affaires, between 1997 and 2004, 24042 foreign children were adopted in our country. Eastern Europe, Asia and Latin America have been the most important regions of origin. The proposal of this paper is to think about the sanitary requirements of these children and the participation of Primary Care paediatricians in the international adoption process. Children adopted abroad build up a group with special although heterogeneous health needs. They frequently suffer from certain conditions, most of them detectable through screening tests. Specific and synergic actuation from different levels of sanitary care will offer the best opportunities of efficient detection and resolution of the problems. Primary Care paediatrician?s participation is fundamental and must be systematic, precise and continuous. It is necessary to promote research in this field in order to know the real health situation of the children adopted abroad and to propose practical recommendations to satisfy their health necessities.