The first cry of a newborn, full of strength and vitality, allows us to witness one of the most beautiful things in life; the birth of a human being. Its velvet skin, that tiny, surprising and vulnerable body, its growth at such a rapid and changing pace makes it seem paradoxical that disease could invade it. Despite the strength and courage they radiate after that first breath, the disease is not alien to them, thus reminding us of the vulnerability of the human being.

There are countless diseases, in stages and needs, with very different side effects and treatments, with very different prognoses, but all with the same common denominator: the child. There is no doubt that the disease has a high impact on a person's life, but if we add to this the fact that the affected person is a child, the consequences are especially relevant in his or her vital project .

The halo that surrounds the sick child gives off such intense rays of fragility that it drives adults to protect him/her in an almost instinctive way. However, this protection must be based on respect, respect for the vital process in which he/she finds himself/herself with unconditional love as source of energy. This protection cannot exceed the limits, it cannot override the voice of the child because of fear or the mistaken beliefs of adults that he/she does not have the capacity to make himself/herself understood and, if necessary, to make decisions in the process of the disease.

It seems somewhat absurd in this day and age to suggest a lack of child participation in health services, but we invite you to observe what happens when you go to the health services with your children. Generally, even though the enquiry or the admission for their health it seems that the protagonists are the parents, the conversations have only two participants, father or mother and the health professional, and their voices are the most listened to. The child acquires a secondary role, or dare we say a marginal role, even though he should be the main protagonist, and his voice, the sound that resonates with greater magnitude in the enquiry.

Let us let the child be a child in the midst of this hurried society, let us respect their process development, their rights, let us stop and listen to what they have to say, they are not adults of the future, but inhabitants of the present. Governments, politicians, health organizations, researchers, each individual person, let us recognize the child and his right to participate and have a voice in all those processes in which his person and his life is involved. We adults, let us act as source of energy for them, with love as the first vital energy available to them naturally, with an intentional presence but without annulling their essence as a child, without annulling their voice. Let us advocate for health professionals who have the necessary skills to make this a reality, and let research be a focus of hope to improve internship care.

Today, February 11, the day on which we celebrate the workshop World Day of the Sick, and in a very special way to all the children in our society who are sick, and who wake up every day to continue fighting with the diagnosis that has changed their lives, we want to thank them for their existence in our lives and that they do not stop being what they are: CHILDREN.