Healthy Communities and Municipalities (HCM)
The objective of the Healthy Communities and Municipalities (HCM) project is to improve maternal, child, and peri-natal health of the communities that have signed coca-eradication agreements. These areas have been traditionally abandoned both by the government and private investment. At its core, health promotion consists of providing people with the means to better control their own health. To achieve this, the program works on improving “health determinants” (latrines, housing conditions, children’s parks, etc.) within the participating communities. Promoting multi-sectoral interventions and active participation of the community is a key element in establishing sustainable, improved health conditions. The HCM project exemplifies the importance of intervening at every level. The project focuses on lifestyle and behavior changes in the family, school, and health centers thereby educating the whole community about putting health as a priority in everyone’s lives.
As part of its strategy HCM designed, implemented, and is now offering support for a municipal public health information system known as SISMUNI (Sistema de Información Municipal de Salud Communal). HCM supports communities in the implementation of a bi-annual needs assessment which includes documenting demographic and economic information about the community as well as identifying the community’s priority actions needed to become a certified “healthy community.” Communities also monitor RH and MCH indicators such as the number of adolescent pregnancies and number of children who are consuming clean water.
