Population Interventions within the Context of the 25x25 Challenge by the World Health Organization and the World Heart Federation

The model of the “National Campaign 100.000 hearts”. Ten years of experience

Abstract

The World Health Organization has faced the challenge to reduce 25% of the premature deaths caused by non-communicable diseases for year 2025. In this context, the successful experiences have shown the substantial advantages of the integration of individual and collective approaches, which include health promotion activities to increase the awareness about the importance of the prevention and control of the risk factors. Taking into account the foregoing, ten years of the National Campaign “100.000 hearts” (the “Campaign”) are hereby analyzed. Methodology: NGOs, public entities and private actors were invited to carry out health promotion activities during the term of each one of the ten annual editions of the Campaign which have been performed since 2007 (each edition took between 1 and 2 months). Results: Process analysis: 8403 activities carried out during 10 years and an average of 278 institutions participated each year throughout 13 to 20 provinces (depending on the edition) over a total of 24 (including the City of Buenos Aires). During the last decade activities were performed in all regions of the Argentine territory under
the Campaign. Discussion: On one hand, the continuity of the initiative, the number of activities and participants, the national
profile and the main role of the local actors are considered positive aspects and the progress of public policies in this field has been a facilitator factor. On the other hand, the poverty, the inadequate interpretation about prevention as an expense and the influence of large corporations with conflicting interests appear as a substantial odd and threat our expectation to reach our goals. As future challenges we foresee the need to get more scientific evidence about the impact of our behavior, the promotion of actions for the increase of the adherence to treatments in secondary prevention patients, the exploitation of social networks, the improvement of articulation with all relevant sectors, the achievement of enough financial resources and the training of the population trough education. Conclusion: Considering that the campaign model has demonstrated sustainability and low cost, it is suitable
to be reproduced in other countries.