The first meeting between representatives of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and the Carlos Slim Foundation (FCS) was held to evaluate the progress made by the Mesoamerican Health Initiative, which currently in its Phase II, and define plans for the immediate future.

The initiative operates in the seven countries of Central America and the State of Chiapas, in the communities where the poorest 20% of the population is concentrated, which are mainly composed of indigenous groups. In these communities there are about one million women in reproductive age (between 20 and 35 years old) and a little more than 600,000 children under the age of five, who are directly beneficiaries of the project.

The Initiative focuses in maternal and perinatal health, child nutrition and vaccination; for which proven cost-effectiveness strategies have been implemented, taking them to places where they have never been before. Simultaneously, governments of the included countries have been encouraged to provide fresh resources, so that they are permanent and immovable. In other words, when the Mesoamerica Health Initiative concludes, communities will continue to enjoy the health services that have been granted to them.

On the other hand, we work with communities encouraging women to go to health centers to receive medical care during their pregnancies, always respecting the customs and practices of communities and indigenous groups, as well as the participation of traditional health personnel such as midwives. Ensuring in this way, it is a 100 percent accepted strategy by the communities, with the participation of local health personnel.

The objective of the meeting was to review the results obtained and to consider the steps to be taken, such as consolidating what has been achieved and evaluating the impact of the Initiative on the communities and their inhabitants.

The objective of the meeting was to review the results and figures obtained and to consider the further steps, such as consolidating what has been achieved and evaluating the impact of the Initiative on the communities and their inhabitants.

The main impact indicators taken into account are:

  • The increase of births care in health units.
  • Reduction of anemia in children.
  • Reducing child malnutrition.
  • And the reduction of maternal, neonatal and infant mortality.

It should be mentioned that the Mesoamerica Health Initiative is a public-private partnership that seeks to reduce health gaps on maternal health, vaccination and child nutrition in the Mesoamerican region. It is integrated by Carlos Slim Foundation, Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, the Spanish Government, the Inter-American Development Bank, and the governments of the seven Central American countries and the state of Chiapas, Mexico.

It benefits more than 964,000 women of reproductive age and an estimated population of 646,000 children under 5 years of age.

The initiative has allowed improvements in the availability of medical equipment for pregnancy care, the training of health personnel, the availability of medicines for childbirth care, and the availability of vaccines and supplements (for the adequate nutritional development of children), in the 7 countries of Central America and in the state of Chiapas.

In the first 18 months, these improvements have ranged between 10 to 100 percent reflected in  the countries’ indicators, including the following achievements:

  • In Belize, the availability of appropriate pregnancy care equipment increased from 50% to 90%.
  • In El Salvador, the availability of refrigerators for vaccines rose from 6 to 78.4%.
  • In Honduras, the availability of zinc for the management of diarrhea increased from 10 to 100%.
  • In Chiapas, the availability of essential medicines for delivery and newborn care rose from 30 to 97%.

The results obtained by the Initiative in the whole region are:

  • More than 180,000 children are receiving micronutrients.
  • More than 6,000 women receive transportation support for childbirth care and
  • More than 1,000 health units have sufficient equipment, supplies and medicines.

On behalf of Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, the meeting was attended by Dana Hovig, Head of Integrated Health, and Ethan Wong, Project Coordinator. The hosts representing Carlos Slim Foundation were Dr. Roberto Tapia-Conyer, General Director; MSc Ricardo Mújica Rosales, Executive Director, Dr. Miguel Betancourt Cravioto, Director of Global Solutions and the MA Renée Salas Guerrero, Coordinator of Global Solutions.