Social Development and Public Governance > Social Development > Health and HIV/AIDS
Vida sana es más vida
Health Promotion and Protection: A strategy that responds to health priorities in the Southern Cone Countries
VIDA SANA ES MÁS VIDA is a subregional initiative promoted by the IDB with the support of PAHO, aimed at improving the quality of life of all citizens in the Southern Cone countries. The framework of initiative are the agreements reached in the Shared Agenda for Health in the Americas (Washington, DC, 2000) and the V Global Conference on Health Promotion (Mexico, 2000).
Specifically, what does it aim to achieve?
- Increase years of healthy life for all people;
- Reduce health disparities in each country;
- Promote active citizens responsible for maintaining their health; and
- Create healthy environments and increase access to preventive services.
What VIDA SANA ES MÁS VIDA will do?
It will support national efforts to:
- Identify health priorities considering variables such as age, gender, ethnicity, education, geography, socio-economic status and access to health services.
- Foster a health promotion strategy that responds to the priorities of different regions within individual countries.
- Identify objectives and goals to be achieved within specified periods of time, tentatively by the year 2010.
- Prepare strategies and implement programs jointly with other sectors in order to achieve these goals.
- Coordinate current activities with health priorities and national goals identified.
- Develop and strengthen information systems to monitor the current health situation and to evaluate achievements.
- Promote and strengthen participatory mechanisms that include civil society and the private sector in health promotion efforts.
- Assure the continuity of interventions by working on their economic, political and cultural sustainability.
What are the principles of the initiative?
To VIDA SANA ES MÁS VIDA, health is a wide concept that includes multiple factors: health services, nutrition, culture, education, housing, employment and labor conditions, social safety nets, psychological and social wellbeing, physical environment, personal habits, and individual, community and institutional resources.
For this reason, improving health requires:
- Active citizens that are responsible for caring for their own health,
- The involvement of other sectors in the promotion of healthy behaviors, and
- The creation of environments that prevent diseases and injuries and that support human development within the family, the community and overall society.
What are the benefits of this health promotion strategy?
- A better understanding of health determinants by the general public, and by other non-health governmental sectors.
- The integration of scientific developments in health promotion and disease and injury prevention, which offer new tools to improve health.
- Effective information systems that make possible the definition of baselines and the measurement the interventions? results.
- More flexibility to adapt programs to the perceived health needs of the communities.
- A participatory approach that encourages the involvement of civil society at all times and that promotes partnerships between the public and private sectors.
Why is VIDA SANA ES MÁS VIDA worthwhile?
- Because investing in health promotion will bring social and economic benefits to the country, since a healthy population contributes to a more dynamic economy, generates less expenditure in social services such as medical attention, and creates wellbeing for all society.
- Because it promotes more active and responsible citizens, aware of their rights, and responsibilities regarding their health.
- Because it is an approach that fits the demographic, socio-political, cultural and epidemiological profile of each country.
- Because it is a strategy that has demonstrated its success in other countries with similar health status as the Southern Cone countries, making possible an increase in the years of healthy life, a reduction in health disparities and a control over the level of health related expenditures.
- Because continuing to increase expenditure in health care services is not enough to improve health status, whereas health promotion interventions are effective, and have demonstrated high performance at low cost.
- Because it is a long-term national strategy, that can be evaluated and corrected over time, and that gives continuity to the actions initiated.
How is VIDA SANA ES MÁS VIDA financed?
The stage of preparation of national plans will be financed through international technical cooperation. The implementation of those plans will be financed through countries? own resources and through a better distribution of existing resources.
For further information please contact:
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André Medici
Senior Health Specialist
Banco Interamericano de Desarrollo
Tel: (202) 623-1972, Fax: (202) 623-1576
André Medici
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María Teresa Cerqueira
Directora de Promoción y Protección de la Salud
Organización Panamericana de la Salud
Tel: (202)974-3243, Fax: (202)974-3640
María Teresa Cerqueira
Last updated: 06/01/07
