MEXICO: TB Control Project
Indigenous women in Chiapas
While TB incidence rates have dropped in Mexico over the past two decades, some states continue to experience disproportionately high rates and poor access to treatment. Chiapas, a state where Doctors of the World – USA (DOW) has been active since 1994, reported the highest TB mortality rates in the country in 2004. To address this issue, DOW initiated a program in 2006 to work with local communities to educate people about TB and to change behavior related to seeking diagnosis and completing treatment. DOW is currently working in partnership with two local organizations to mobilize and educate indigenous communities about the disease and to increase their access to TB detection and treatment services. Lessons learned from the model will be shared with TB education and care programs in other parts of the country with similarly high rates.
Training community health educators
DOW has partnered with two local organizations of health promotores or community health workers to implement training sessions to improve their knowledge about TB and how they can play a role in reducing the problem of TB in their communities. DOW will also help train the promotores to reach people with TB information and refer potential patients for care at area facilities.
Strengthening community voices
DOW will coordinate a group of community leaders and advocates to meet frequently with promotores to be informed about the scope of TB problems in the communities and to voice their needs to local authorities. These efforts will also help build community leaders’ capacity to liaise with the health system.
Connecting communities and health systems
By partnering with local organizations and the local TB control staff, DOW will strengthen collaboration between the public health system and civil society, ultimately improving people’s knowledge of their rights to access health care and the services available to them.
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OTHER PROJECTS IN MEXICO:
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OTHER PROJECTS IN MEXICO: