Tuesday, May 6, 2003
Case Study: Health for All – Gëzim’s Story
Gëzim Hoti is a 32 year old member of the Ashkalia community in Fushe, Kosovo, a town outside of Pristina. After suffering through a long illness that confined him to a hospital for 54 days, Gëzim recalls, “I had only two wishes. One wish was to be cured and the second to share information with people on how important it is to be healthy.” When Doctors of the World – USA (DOW) launched a health promotion project to train Peer Health Educators (PHEs) in Gëzim’s community, he eagerly enlisted.
In partnership with DOW, Gëzim and his fellow PHEs surveyed the people living in the Ashkalia community to document major health issues. They discovered that most people poorly understood their own bodies and were ill-equipped to prevent or seek treatment for health problems. After comprehensive training from DOW on major health topics, the PHEs went out into the community to educate their peers.
Gëzim witnessed a marked improvement within his community as PHE-led campaigns and trainings raised health awareness. “I feel very happy that I have made many big changes in my community,” said Gëzim. Regular visits to the local health clinic increased substantially. Pregnant women learned the importance of antenatal care and regular visits to the doctor. The prevalence of unsafe homebirths declined as women increasingly delivered their babies at hospitals.
Eager to sustain the success of the DOW projects, Gëzim and other PHEs, with DOW’s support, created a local NGO to represent all people in Kosovo, regardless of ethnic background. On April 23, 2003, Health for All was launched by the PHEs in collaboration with DOW to empower and mobilize communities in areas of reproductive health, HIV/AIDS, and community and family health. Improving awareness through community health campaigns, education using peer-to-peer models, and advocacy techniques, Health for All promotes health as an equal right for all people, particularly vulnerable communities with urgent health needs. “I am very proud that we are now a registered NGO and working towards providing health promotion for all Kosovar communities,” Gëzim said.