This article considers the effects on
child nutrition and
health achieved by three simplified
primary health care projects developed by the
Institute of Nutrition of Central America and Panama in
rural areas of
Guatemala from 1969 to 1981. The first of this
projects encompassed four non-indian
communities of El Progreso department and the other two, several Indian
communities in the departments of Solola and Suchitepequez. In all of them, curative and preventive services were provided by
primary health care workers supervised by a
physician that made periodic visits to the
community health care centers. These
workers included
nursing and perinatal auxiliaries,
health promoters, and
traditional birth attendants trained in the examination,
diagnosis and
treatment of
patients . In addition, a program was carried out for the
vaccination of expectant
mothers with
tetanus toxoid . A substantial reduction of
infant mortality was observed in the
course of the three
projects . The reduction was most pronounced in El Progreso, where
children and expectant
mothers received
food supplements . There was also a marked improvement in the
nutritional status and
growth of the
children . In view of the current worsening of the economic problems of the Latin American countries and the impracticability of allocating more
funds to
health care , the authors suggest extending
health services by means of simplified primary