Health-Promoting Universities: La Experiencia de la Universidad Autonoma de Ciudad Juarez

Since 1997, the Universidad Autónoma de Ciudad Juárez (UACJ) performs comprehensive medical examination for new students, which showed prevalent diseases to be intervened. The University Health Committee was constituted to promote and foster a culture based on health and to improve the quality of life. In 2003, this was expanded with the Healthy University Program (HUP), which integrates contents and practices that strengthen individual and collective life skills and psychological competencies, by enhancing the ability of the university community to meet their health needs and y promoting the development of educational and employment activities. The HUP is designed to transform the approach to health, from a healing and individualistic approach to a participatory and formative process. There is no single formula to address health problems, but there is an overall strategy for local development, participation, and for the pursuit of greater equity, efficiency, and effectiveness. The promotion of policy for environmental changes is the other perspective of the program. This experience with building institutional capacity, led the UACJ in 2005 to carry out the First Forum of Healthy Universities, to share the experiences and best practices. Sixteen universities, the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO), and the Secretariat of Public Education (SEP) participated. Later, the “Healthy University Network” in Mexico was created and in October 2007, the Third International Congress of Health-Promoting Universities was carried out at the UACJ with the participation of 25 Universities from seven countries. This presentation will describe the experience lived with the development of these activities.