Abstract

PIP: Over a period of more than 10 years a health education program for mothers and pregnant women has been developed in many villages of the West Bank. The involvement of Catholic Relief Services in meeting the health needs of West Bank communities began in 1975 with a nutrition education project. A determined effort has been made to use local resources, both human and material, and to reach out to the women in a sympathetic manner. The goal was to improve the health standards of poor village mothers and their young children through better nutrition. Instructors from this nongovernmental organization trained village teachers, who then held classes for mothers with children under 5 years of age. The children were weighed monthly and food commodities were distributed in accordance with class attendance and the numbers of children weighed. A considerable effort was required in order to convince the local charitable societies and health personnel of the value of preventive measures. Doctors were especially resistant to the idea of prevention. Despite these obstacles, 323 courses were attended by 6739 mothers and 15,112 children were weighed during a 4 year period. The success of the program is evident from the decline in infant deaths in the participating villages.