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Josefa Ippolito-Shepherd, PhD, Area of Sustainable Development and Environmental Health, Pan American Health Organization/World Health Organization, 525 23rd Street, NW, Washington, DC 20037, (202) 974-3639, ippolitj@paho.org and Maria Teressa Cerqueira, PhD, Area of Sustainable Development and Environmental Health, Pan American Health Organization, 525 23rd Street NW, Washington, DC 20037.
The Health Promoting Schools Regional Initiative, a global strategy, is directed to strengthen health promotion and health education where students, parents, teachers, and other members of the school community live, learn, work, and play. Through technical cooperation with and among Member States, the Initiative aims to build consensus between the health and education sectors and to establish relevant partnerships with other appropriate sectors, to create, maintain, and/or enhance healthy and supportive physical and psycho-social environments. The Initiative strives to contribute to future generations of people and communities with the appropriate knowledge, skills, abilities, and behaviors that are basic and vital to care for their own health, as well as for the health of their families and community.
Since its official launching in 1995, major efforts in the Americas have been focused on sensitizing policy makers and other key stakeholders, as well as providing technical collaboration for conducting training activities directed to school personnel for the implementation of the strategy at the country level.
The purpose of the Initiative is the development and strengthening of the capacity of the health and education systems and services to design, develop, implement, sustain, and evaluate their Health-Promoting Schools. The Latin American and Caribbean Networks of Health-Promoting Schools provide a space for the exchange of knowledge, ideas, resources, and experiences.
This presentation will describe PAHO/WHO technical cooperation in the Region of the Americas and the status and trends of the implementation of the Initiative, as well as the planned activities for the next decade.
Learning Objectives:
Presenting author's disclosure statement:
I do not have any significant financial interest/arrangement or affiliation with any organization/institution whose products or services are being discussed in this session.