{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,2,7]],"date-time":"2026-02-07T20:23:01Z","timestamp":1770495781860,"version":"3.49.0"},"reference-count":65,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"9","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2025,8,30]],"date-time":"2025-08-30T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1756512000000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["Behavioral Sciences"],"abstract":"<jats:p>The pandemic spared most children and adolescents in Ghana from severe clinical disease, but it exposed long-standing gaps in services and protection methods. Methods: We conducted a desk-based narrative review of peer-reviewed studies, national and international reports, and grey literature from January 2020 to May 2025. The evidence was organised across eight domains of child and adolescent well-being. Across mental health, gambling and other risky behaviours, access to health services, economic hardship and child labour, nutrition, education, early childhood development, and WASH, the pandemic disrupted essential services and social safety nets. Examples include declines in routine care and immunisation, wider digital exclusion during remote learning, a rise in child labour linked to income loss, and persistent hygiene constraints. Preparedness in Ghana should focus on mental health, digital inclusion, early childhood services, and strong social protection. Ghana\u2019s specific empirical data are uneven, so we triangulate peer-reviewed evidence with official reports, appraised the grey literature, and calibrated claims to the strength of sources.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/bs15091187","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2025,9,1]],"date-time":"2025-09-01T08:28:15Z","timestamp":1756715295000},"page":"1187","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":1,"title":["Preparing for the Next Pandemic: Lessons from COVID-19\u2019s Impact on Child and Adolescent Health Inequities in Ghana"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"15","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-4178-963X","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Franklin N.","family":"Glozah","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Social and Behavioural Sciences, School of Public Health, University of Ghana, Accra 00233, Ghana"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Robert S.","family":"Tia","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Social and Behavioural Sciences, School of Public Health, University of Ghana, Accra 00233, Ghana"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2025,8,30]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"41","DOI":"10.1016\/j.puhe.2020.04.003","article-title":"The changing epidemiology of gambling disorder and gambling-related harm: Public health implications","volume":"184","author":"Abbott","year":"2020","journal-title":"Public Health"},{"key":"ref_2","first-page":"106","article-title":"Impact of COVID-19 on mental health: Lessons for mental healthcare in Ghana","volume":"56","year":"2022","journal-title":"Ghana Medical Journal"},{"key":"ref_3","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Ae-Ngibise, K. 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