Healthcare Innovations For Street Children in Developing Countries: A Systematic Review

This study presents a systematic review of healthcare innovations targeting street children in developing countries, examining how the Ottawa Charter for Health Promotion shapes health services for these children. Street children in developing countries face persistent health challenges driven by poverty, social exclusion, and limited access to formal healthcare systems. The review adopted a systematic methodology guided by the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) framework. A comprehensive search identified 16,647 records from indexed databases, which were rigorously screened and assessed for eligibility. Following full-text review, 12 peer-reviewed journal articles met all inclusion criteria and were included in the final analysis. The findings emphasize community participation, intersectoral collaboration, supportive environments, and reorientation of health services. The review demonstrates that healthcare innovations for street children primarily focus on improving access to services through clinic-based care, emergency health services, and mobile health outreach. In addition, digital and financial innovations, such as mobile phones and digital banking systems, were used to facilitate health-related payments and improve service continuity. Health education and life skills programmes promoted hygiene, disease prevention, and positive health-seeking behaviour, while drop-in centres and safe spaces provided basic medical care, referrals, nutrition, and psychosocial support. Collaborative models involving civil society organisations and government health and social welfare departments emerged as critical for enhancing coordination, sustainability, and service effectiveness. The review concludes that proven interventions, including digital financial systems, strengthened government-civil society collaboration, effective use of emergency services, and strategies to promote treatment adherence, should be systematically scaled across programmes serving street children. Scaling these innovations is essential to ensure uniformity, effectiveness, transparency, and alignment with health promotion principles in developing country contexts.