There are municipalities that focus their actions on preventing diseases to reduce the need to go to hospitals. Without taking away the importance of the equipment and items of health workers in medical centers, they want to improve the health of their population.
According to information from the Ministry of Interior Health, 70% of the diseases affecting Cochabambino in the 48 municipalities are preventable, and are non-communicable. This refers to patients with diabetes, high blood pressure, skin problems or digestive problems.
Kliza is one of the leaders within the framework of healthy municipalities of the department, they implement functions such as knitting school, sports school and healthy park for older adults as part of their strategies so that their population can prevent health problems .
It is a municipality in Valle Alto, about 40 kilometers from the city of Cochabamba. Along with Sakaba and Mizak, he takes action to become a healthier municipality. Its actions were identified in response to requests from the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO).
According to PAHO, healthy municipalities are those that are characterized by healthy habits, regular exercise, adequate nutrition, abstinence from alcohol, tobacco and controlled substance use, mental health, and social well-being.
Jenry Vokal, Director of Human Development for the Valle Alto Cliza Mayor’s Office, describes the important measures he takes in his municipality. Administratively, the City Board of Health legislation is unique, having already been submitted to the City Council for approval. This norm, developed in coordination with the PAHO and the departmental government of Cochabamba, aims to work together with all social, medical and technological actors to improve the quality and warmth of medical care for the population.
Vokal says, “With this legislation, we want to strengthen health care and ensure that it operates efficiently for the benefit of our community.”
In parallel, actions are already being implemented for the benefit of the population.
Vocal highlights the importance of healthy parks in Cliza. In collaboration with PAHO, a park for the elderly will be inaugurated in the coming days, designed to provide recreational spaces and activities adapted to the needs of this population.
“We recognize the importance of caring for our older adults and providing them with adequate space for their recreation and well-being.”
In addition, it reports that seven parks with similar themes have already been built in various communities with equipment for outdoor physical activity, places that are also used by children.
Among other activities, older adults meet on Mondays and Thursdays to develop various recreational and even sporting activities as well as dancing, singing and more.
As a second area of action, this includes boosting the local economy and generating more economic income for households, especially for women. This is achieved through weaving classes, where participants not only learn, but are also able to sell the products they develop within the Municipal Weaving School. In addition to weaving skills, both women and girls are provided with training on prevention issues such as violence and disease.
“Our goal is to provide them with the tools to improve their quality of life and promote health prevention,” he emphasized.
Another area of focus is the strengthening of sports schools in Cliza. The Director of Human Development reports that his municipality is a leader in the implementation of the seven sports disciplines in Valle Alto. As a result of the promotion of activities, it ensures that sports schools serve between 100 and 150 people at different times and in the age group of four to 18 years. They not only promote physical activity and sports development, but also focus on nutrition and psychological support.
“We aim to train complete athletes, providing them with not only physical and technical training, but also nutritional guidance and psychological support for their comprehensive well-being.”
With these measures, Kliza Mayor’s office seeks to strengthen health care, promote physical activity and the well-being of the population in general.
Cliza recently joined the World Health Organization’s (WHO) Healthy Municipalities, Cities and Communities (MCCS) movement.
According to PAHO, the MCCS has been expanded in the US for more than three decades, allowing the implementation of health promotion strategies at the local level as well as strengthening health promotion.
“A healthy municipality is committed to improving health, well-being and equity through the implementation of healthy, interregional and participatory public policies. should be based on the values of universal rights,” says PAHO.
The Risk Vocal emphasizes the importance of anticipating the risks that may arise in the process of implementing actions. It assumes that one of the possible risks may be a change of officers.
“We know the change of officers may present challenges, but we were chosen because of our emphasis on preventing disease and we are committed to moving forward based on what has already been said,” he says.
The Office of Kliza Mayor highlights its commitment to the promotion of health and sports through the allocation of resources and the implementation of policies that strengthen the quality of life of its population. Despite the potential risks, Vokal emphasizes that hard work continues to strengthen Klija as an exemplary municipality at the national level.
They also implement strategies as healthy municipalities for the southern cone in Sacaba and Mizque.
As an example, in Mizak, the activities that are implemented are jogging at dawn, led by their own officials, along the so-called “healthy route”; discussions at “healthy nights” in the main square, where market vendors and others participate; Food control in markets and schools, promotion of healthy eating with local products and monthly cleaning of rivers and forests, etc. In this way they promote the improvement of the health of their inhabitants. Neighbors, students, institutions participate; adults, youth and children; Urban areas and scattered areas.
Regarding physical activity, the mayor’s office organizes championships, which may be common in other municipalities; In addition, in this case, due to the lack of playgrounds, roads are closed at night and used for this purpose; For them he installed more lighting.
Good practices, population feedback and results of actions can be inspiration for other areas of the department.
At the end of April, the ‘Healthy Municipalities Strategy for Well Living in the Commonwealth of the Southern Cone’ was launched in Mizak. On that day, Pojo, Omerek and Rakayapampa, the municipalities of the Southern Cone region, formalized with the government their intention to be part of this comprehensive health policy.
Then, PAHO/WHO representative Eric Ruselli highlighted that Mizak leads the implementation of Healthy Municipalities in Bolivia, and that Cochabamba’s department is a leader in the country.
In the past months, the local governments of Santivanez, Sacabamba, Vacas, Colomi, Arani and Tarata also expressed their interest.
