Summary: | To implement an education initiative on school health in the Region, PAHO and other agencies will disseminate knowledge and experiences to schools in various countries throughout the Americas, organize meetings and workshops for the purpose of strengthening institutional capacity to identify the needs of local health education systems, and put into practice strategies to promote health and strengthen schools involvement in this area. To determine a countrys ability to set up and evaluate school health programs, the rapid assessment and analysis methodology will be used. This methodology, which arose in response to the need of governments to make decisions, formulate policies, and design programs on the basis of knowledge of the individual and collective behavior of their beneficiaries, is a useful tool for decision making and facilitates coordination mechanisms between the health and education sectors. In addition, it contributes quantitative and qualitative information for program review and analysis in an average of two months. This information is obtained through the compilation of data from secondary sources, interviews with key informants, and discussions with focal groups made up of formal and informal community leaders.
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