Results from a community intervention project in the Nicaraguan mining community El Limon. An overview

The first steps of a community involvement health project using the principles of community diagnosis and popular participation were carried out in a small Nicaraguan mining village during the second half of the 1980s. Using existing archives and obtaining new information aided by local organizations, priorities could be established for health and safety surveillance within the mining company, as well as for further investigations concerning what seemed to be dominant health problems in the community: serious accidents among the economically active population and diarrhoea and respiratory tract infections among children, as well as infections, and other health indicators of malnutrition. Workers also presented chronic simple bronchitis, ventilatory obstructive disturbance and hearing loss that were strongly associated with working conditions. These results helped to direct health priorities and educational activities at the local level with both the general and working population. The wide experience gained from this study has encouraged us to strengthen the link between research and action and in performing studies in close cooperation with local organizations.