A child’s ability to show up and do well in school depends greatly on his or her health. Access to health care reduces school absences due to illness and helps prevent health conditions from becoming medical emergencies. In Guatemala, treatable and communicable diseases are still highly prevalent and major causes of death. Access to health care is scarce, so families often delay seeking medical care until health conditions have severely advanced. When this occurs, a family’s limited budget may become overwhelmed by medical bills, one more reason a child has to drop out of school to earn money. To address this, Common Hope provides health care for our students and their entire families.
A child receives a nebulizer treatment at the Antigua clinic.
Access to health care
Our Health Care Program provides basic curative and preventive health care, preventive health care education, dental care, prenatal education, a pharmacy, nutrition services, and community health fairs that reach the broader community. In Antigua, we run a medical and dental clinic that serves affiliated families from the 15 Antigua valley communities where we work. In New Hope, affiliated families have access to a clinic built by Common Hope and run by our health care partner, Sangre de Cristo. In San Rafael, families have access to a clinic run by El Faro, another nonprofit health care partner.
A path to greater wellness
Our Antigua clinic achieved a number of health care advances in 2010. Our clinic staff, for example, treated more than 7,350 patients in the clinic, providing laboratory tests and X-rays, nutritional consultations, physical therapy, and more. In addition, clinic staff conducted health talks for 3,205 people in 2010, educating about the importance of preventive health care. A total of nine community health fairs were held in area villages last year, to bring preventive health to the broader community. Our dental staff oversaw a 26% increase in preventive dental treatments in 2010, thanks in part to their promotion at community health fairs and talks. In addition, more than 250 women were screened throughout the year for cervical cancer and treated as needed. And, the clinic continued to provide monthly groups for diabetic and hypertensive patients, to monitor their condition and provide patients with advice on how to maintain good control of their disease.
For more program outcomes, visit our results. For more on health care conditions in Guatemala, visit our health care issues page.
