Public Health Awareness
MAP is engaged in a number of projects to raise public health awareness among vulnerable Palestinian communities.
Below are details of just some of the campaigns MAP supports.
- The trauma, injury and accident prevention programme recently completed in Ramallah sought to raise awareness among mothers in particular of the number of children accidentally injured at home and in the streets. The process of communicating this message was participatory, ensuring relevance to the community and translating accident prevention information into behavioural changes. This was a pilot project, targeting two camps, three villages and the town of Ramallah. Drama, art, music, drawings and story telling proved the most successful methods of communication.
- Early marriage is a cultural phenomenon, but its instance is greatly increased by poverty. There are health risks associated with pregnancy in very young women, but these are even greater in places where access to adequate antenatal and obstetric care cannot be guaranteed. MAP is therefore working with communities, particularly in Gaza, to raise public awareness of the health issues surrounding early marriage.
- Working in partnership with the Palestinian Family Planning and Protection Association (PFPPA), MAP is supporting a one year programme to raise awareness among young people of reproductive and sexual health, health rights and gender issues including family planning, and marriage counselling. The programme will feature lectures and workshops, home visits, leadership training summer camps, and the involvement of religious leaders in addressing gender issues and women's rights. The campaign will cover five marginalised villages around Bethlehem, the Old City of Jerusalem and a Bedouin encampment.