“Prevention in Action”: how is the program that seeks to raise awareness about dengue in schools

With the start of school days, the Mundo Sano Foundation launched its educational program “Prevention in Action: educational resources for a Healthy World”, which teaches about “what is dengue”, “how it is transmitted” and its “symptoms”. Aimed at students between the ages of 7 and 13, as well as members of the community, this plan seeks to teach children about personal care measures and preventive habits at home and in the neighborhood.

The program is made up of a “Digital Educational Kit” with multiple resources, such as videos, audio stories, podcasts and educational games, which involves families through the role of girls and boys as change agents. Since the beginning of the year, more than 60 teachers have already registered with the aim of achieving, from an early age, a commitment to preventive habits and make a call to action for students to take an active role in promoting them in their environment.

“Faced with the current context, the awareness of boys and girls about the prevention of mosquito-borne diseasesespecially in these communities, is fundamental since it has been proven that the youngest are multipliers of knowledge and great health educators within their family environment”, assured Carolina Lopez Ferloni, Head of Volunteering and Community of the Mundo Sano Foundation.

Preventive education promotes learning for life and that is what Prevention in Action aims for, they pointed out from the foundation; since the goal is empower and expand awareness work on mosquito-borne diseases, with a focus on dengue, based on strengthening the link with strategic allies and the educational community.

Since 2022, the Program has an information space on these diseases within the Interpretation Center of the Iguazú National Park, where schools from the province of Misiones that visit the park can learn about its biodiversity, and also participate in informative talks about the disease. dengue, zika and chikungunya.

In addition, workshops are held in conjunction with companies and civil organizations such as: Arauco Argentina, Victoria Jean Navajas Foundation belonging to the Las Marías Group, Obra del Padre Mario Pantaleo and companies from the Insud Group, among others.

“Scaling up the project also means building links with more institutions that see schools and home as key areas to promote health education. Thanks to the articulation with different civil society organizations, companies and volunteers, ‘Prevention in action’ is crossing borders and taking on a life of its own”, affirmed Lopez Ferloni.

And he added: “The project manages to reach new places where it is necessary to work on these awareness messages and this expansion is possible thanks to the networking with local actors.

“We are convinced that citizen participation and community involvement enhance the actions and projects we carry out,” said Mundo Sano’s Head of Volunteering and Community. “We are the link between the needs of the community and the willingness of people and companies to collaborate in solidarity,” she added, pointing out that this volunteer program has two forms of participation: social volunteering and corporate

This year the program carried out the first corporate volunteer activity of the year in the schools of the El Porvenir I and II neighborhoods in Posadas, Misiones and in Hernandarias, Paraguay.

Through nine workshops with recreational activities, they raised awareness 141 children on healthy habits to prevent mosquito-borne diseases such as dengue, zika and chikungunya, with the participation of 14 volunteers from Pomera Maderas.

These activities are added to those already started with the school year, where 11 workshops were held in different schools in Posadas, Iguazú, Virasoro and Tartagal, raising awareness among a total of 260 boys and girls.

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