Institutional activities

Health Education

Over time, FUNSALUD has supported distinct efforts regarding health education and promotion.

“Listen to your body”

Since 2001, together with the Communications Council, we have been working on a medium and long-range (5 to 10 years) health education campaign with the support of the media, mainly television, radio, printed matter and other non-traditional media.

Thus, the Mexican Association of Advertising Agencies organized a competition among several agencies; after a careful selection process, the contract was assigned to Brockmann, Fernández Pellón y Medellín who offered a campaign called Listen to your body, which sought to create awareness among the population about the need for better healthcare, through 20 and 30 second spots for television, 30 second spots for radio and a variety of printed materials.

In order to sustain a medium to long-range campaign, a select group of three important transnational, that are already well-established in Mexico, was formed: Nestlé, Pepsi Cola and Procter & Gamble, all leaders in their fields and eager to contribute to the campaign. Moreover, we are seeking the backing of companies within different areas of communication, mainly television because of its penetration capability, so that they too can add their valuable contribution.

A Conduction Committee and a Technical Committee have been established; the former is formed by the heads of the companies that sponsor the campaign: their commitment is to oversee the general conduction of the campaign, approve both the messages that will be generated in the next stages as well as the operational costs of the campaign, and evaluate its performance; the latter’s duties are: planning, organizing and direct supervision of the campaign; they will also review the messages to be generated in the next stages, formulate the budget for the operational costs of the campaign, supervise it and prepare reports on its performance.

Academic and social mobilization for health

With the aid of GlaxoSmithKline the project Academic and Social Mobilization for Health has been carried out to promote health education, with the participation of academic and health organizations. It includes the formation of a Consensus action group, integrated by representatives from health and academic institutions, and civil society organizations that develop and put into practice innovative health education methods. 65 projects have been sponsored and directed towards population groups of different ages, scholastic levels, genders, sociocultural and economic levels that suffer from diverse health problems.

An ample variety of educational methods have been used, with special emphasis on the research-action method wherein the community participates, and different types of technologies: video-conferencing, television via satellite, Internet, radio, puppet shows, videos and printed matter such as manuals, posters, brochures, pamphlets and magazines. Health information has increased with these methods, and so has the adoption of positive attitudes that are more conducive to integral health; there has also been an increase in activities directed towards individuals, families and communities. The group has maintained a space in UNAM’s Universum Museum, called El rincón de la salud (The corner of health). Moreover, it also has a web page inside FUNSALUD’s web site containing information regarding the distinct projects that have been sponsored. In 2002 the book Models for the Implementation of productive projects, for health and education in Latin America (Modelos para la implantación de proyectos productivos, de salud y educación en América Latina) was published, and presented in Mexico and Argentina and at the follow-up meeting of the Fifth World Conference on Health Education and Promotion, celebrated in Chile in October, where the program Academic and Social Mobilization was presented.

More information on the Internet site of the
Consensus Action Group

www.educacionparalasalud.org.mx

Micronutrients

With the help of Procter & Gamble a program to promote health was initiated, in order to provide information to medical specialists and general practitioners, develop a web page and organize an international conference on the subject of micronutrients.