Abstract
The main purpose of the Guatemalan Program of Primary Health Care (SINAPS) is to increase the effective coverage of primary health care services in rural populations of Guatemala. The Rural Health Promoter (RHP) provides services such as community census and maps vaccinations detection and distribution of food supplements to pregnant women and preschool children at high risk of malnutrition oral rehydration to children with diarrhea primary curative care encouragement of longterm breastfeeding and promotion of health and environmental sanitation. The traditional birth attendant (TBA) provides care of normal pregnancy birth and puerperium detection of high nutritional risk newborns and referral of high risk pregnant women to health services. SINAPS external evaluation is performed through baseline and endline surveys carried out in a random sample of families in 3 control and 6 experimental Health Districts. Results indicate that both groups control and experimental were very similar before program implementation in terms of malnutrition infant mortality vaccinations and contraceptive usage. As of December 31 1981: 1) 100% of malnourished children were participating in the food supplementation program 2) 84% of households received oral rehydration salts and 3) prevalence of contraceptive usage increased from 10.7-15% after 3 months of the program. Personnel training is carried out in-service and as of 30 December 1981 405 RHPs and 228 TBAs were being trained. Several methods developed in SINAPS are currently being adopted at the national level in Guatemala and other Latin American countries.
Published Version
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