Selling health in the market place: the Araromi approach

This paper describes a village health education project in a disadvantaged community of 10,000 inhabitants located 100 kms north of Lagos, Nigeria. The object was to "sell" the concept of good health to the people. With this purpose in mind the health education team set up a health stall on the market place. Soon it was crowded with people and a neighbouring village asked for assistance in launching a similar project. This was the opportunity the team had been waiting for to start off the participation process. A village health committee was set up, including community leaders and health personnel as well as traditional healers and birth attendants. The group split up into three subcommittees, to involve a maximum number of people: the turning point in changing the community's attitudes and making the people look at health problems as their problems had been reached. Within a few months progress was recorded. Six covered pithole latrines were built, the stream was fenced on both sides, an incinerator was built, families became accustomed to boiling and filtering water, the dispensary recorded an increase of more than 300% in attendance, the maternity centre doubled its volume of work, and school weight charts reflected an improvement in nutrition practices. Teachers became quite cooperative in sending children to the dispensary and took on the supervision of hygiene on the school premises. Finally, volunteers personally checked on environmental cleanliness. In short, within nine months the village became an example to other communities--and a test case of the use of the primary health care approach.