Our project proposes to train local women, too often excluded from professional opportunities in Lobitos, into future community health workers. Thanks to house visits and community workshops, as well as through public health education, they will help combat and prevent ever increasing-diseases in the area such as hypertension, diabetes, and anaemia - the main contributors to local mortality and morbidity.
Lobitos, a small fishing village in coastal Peru, faces poor health outcomes due to its limited resources. Its understaffed medical post cannot provide a sufficient level of care to its population suffering from high levels of hypertension, diabetes and anemia. Furthermore, its arid climate and limited agriculture result in diets consisting mostly of sugary drinks, fried foods and white rice. Those most at risk are women, who face inequality in limited professional and economic opportunities.
This programme will train 5 local women as community health workers. Through house visits and screening programmes, they will be able to monitor these diseases, their development, and their treatment, as well as recommend management options and encourage patients to attend the medical post when needed. With these women, EcoSwell will run public health education workshops for the community to encourage healthier lifestyle practices for disease prevention and health promotion.
This programme will help provide jobs to local women, empowering them within their community. It will also help over 300 citizens currently living with, or at risk of, hypertension, diabetes and anaemia, overall reducing morbidity and mortality and improving quality of life for many Lobitos families. Given the prevalence of these diseases nationally, we hope to present this project to regional municipalities and expand it to other areas to influence public health policies.
This project has provided additional documentation in a PDF file (projdoc.pdf).
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