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Pressemitteilungen Sartorius supports health care in Guatemala
Health care in rural communities in Guatemala is to be improved by an action medeor project. © action medeor / Christina Chiquin
- Details
- Veröffentlicht: 15. Dezember 2022
In Guatemala, on average, almost half of all children under the age of 5 suffer from chronic malnutrition.In order to improve this situation action medeor, together with the local partner organization ASECSA, launched a project to strengthen local health care.
- Company donates 100,000 euros to action medeor
- Social partnership has been in place for seven years
- Project strengthens health care, especially for children
In Guatemala, on average, almost half of all children under the age of 5 suffer from chronic malnutrition. Easily treatable diseases, such as respiratory infections or diarrhoea, are therefore among the most common causes of death for children in the Latin American country. Especially in rural areas, people live in poverty, suffer from hunger and have restricted access to public health care. In order to improve this situation in several indigenous communities in the centre of the country, the drug relief organization action medeor, together with the local partner organization ASECSA, launched a project a few weeks ago to strengthen local health care. Generous financial support comes from Germany: Sartorius, a leading international partner of life science research and the biopharmaceutical industry, is supporting the project with 100,000 euros as part of its initiative "Donations instead of gifts" and is forgoing Christmas presents for customers and business partners.
The project, funded by Sartorius, aims to strengthen health care and thus the independence of a total of 14 communities in the three districts of Purulhá, Rabinal and San José Poaquil in the parts of the country of Baja Verapaz and Chimaltenango. For this purpose, local health workers are trained and equipment such as blood pressure and blood glucose monitors, stethoscopes and pulse oximeters are provided for the diagnosis of diseases. In total, more than 10,000 people are expected to benefit from the project.
"Trained staff and the right equipment are the keys to sustainably better health care. By imparting medical knowledge, the project in Guatemala is making an important contribution," said Petra Kirchhoff, Head of Corporate Communications at Sartorius.
The social partnership between action medeor and Sartorius has existed for seven years. During this time, the Göttingen-based company has supported projects of the drug relief organization in northern Iraq, Yemen, Tanzania, Sierra Leone and the DR Congo, and in 2022 also provided aid for Ukraine with action medeor. "Since 2015, Sartorius has been helping people in crisis areas and poorer countries to access medicines and medical services," says Sid Peruvemba, CEO of action medeor. "In this way, Sartorius has contributed to sustainably improving the living conditions of tens of thousands of people for years. The continuity of this commitment is impressive," says Peruvemba.
The project in Guatemala primarily aims to strengthen the self-help competence of local communities. In the project area, there are already traditional, local health workers who provide basic medical care for the population. They recognize and treat simple diseases, mostly with traditional medicine. Now they are to be specifically trained in their various specializations in order to detect serious illnesses and refer people to state health facilities if necessary. At the same time, existing health stations, which are currently only partially functional and are therefore only used sporadically, are being brought up to a more modern standard by new medical equipment.
Through advanced training measures, people in the communities should be enabled to take care of their own health and the health of particularly weak community members. Finally, disaster risk reduction measures are being taken to protect people in the region from the consequences of alternating droughts and floods.
About the German medical aid organization action medeor e.V.
As the largest medical aid organization in Europe, action medeor has worked for sustainable and improved healthcare for people especially in the poorest regions of the world for almost 60 years now.
Based in Tönisvorst on the Lower Rhine, the charitable, non-governmental organization supplies medical aid to healthcare facilities in around 100 countries across Africa, Latin America and Asia. In emergencies, action medeor is able to dispatch vital medicines, medical supplies and equipment to the relevant countries within a few hours.
In addition to emergency and disaster relief, action medeor works with local partner organizations to implement health projects with focus on effective prevention, diagnosis and treatment. As part of its pharmaceutical advisory services, action medeor trains health professionals, establishes research laboratories and supports the quality assurance and control of medicines worldwide. action medeor is a member of the Aktion Deutschland Hilft, the German coalition of renowned relief aid organizations.