Effectiveness of a school-based mental health education program in an impoverished urban area of Peru.

This study aimed to evaluate the effectiveness of a school-based mental health education program in preventing adolescent suicide attempts in an impoverished urban area in Peru, as part of an Official Development Assistance project by the Korea International Cooperation Agency. The PRECEDE-PROCEED model informed the effectiveness study. In this intervention, the participants were first to fifth grade students in public secondary schools. The pre-post intervention survey was conducted with a stratified random sampling method. A sample of 768 and 738 students in experimental and control groups was analyzed comparatively, using chi-squared tests and logistic regression. This study found that the program had a positive effect on adolescent mental health-related risk behaviors and suicide attempts in the experimental group compared to the control group. Thus, the intervention may have helped prevent the increase in mental health-related risk behaviors and suicide attempts. Further, parental affection, when included in the intervention, had a significant effect on suicide attempts. As such, the involvement of parental affection in the intervention might be effective in preventing suicide attempts. To enhance the effectiveness of interventions aiming to prevent adolescent suicide, the participation and attention of parents, as well as adolescents, must be encouraged. Further, to maintain the effectiveness of the intervention and expand coverage to other schools in the neighborhood, a strategy for project sustainability is needed, particularly with regards to capacity-building in schools and communities.

International Health Cooperation and Challenges for Official Development Assistance / 보건행정학회지

As the United Nations announced Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in 2015, the world changed its development goals from focusing on efficiency to equity. As a result, in the health sector, universal health coverage (UHC) has become one of the main issues. This paper reviews and discusses on future direction and issue of official development assistance program for developing countries. Korea International Cooperation Agency under the Ministry of Foreign Affairs published on Korea International Cooperation Agency's mid-term health strategy 2016–2020 developed on participation program with stakeholder including governments, civil society partner organizations, and educational institutions. The SDGs expands non-communicable diseases, UHC, and global health security from the existing Millenium Development Goals health sector. Progress toward UHC underpins the achievement of all other targets under SDG Goal 3. Progress in reducing health inequality across the life course is drawing on overall data and from specific target. In order to achieve SDG 3, a multi-disciplinary approach, convergence between IT and u-health of this development, is desirable.