Protecting children from lead exposure is critical to ensuring their lifelong well-being. There is no safe level of lead in children’s blood; even low concentrations adversely affect learning, attention, and academic performance. The focus should be on prevention before exposure occurs.
With these primary objectives in mind the National Center for Epidemiology, Prevention and Disease Control (CDC Peru) of the Ministry of Health (Minsa) joins Pure Earth and Vital Strategies in seeking to work together to protect children’s futures from lead exposure.
By signing a “Memorandum of Understanding” in September 2023 in Lima, these entities seek to strengthen information systems, train health professionals and generate evidence for public policies. This collaboration represents a fundamental step forward and will drive important advances in the prevention of childhood lead exposure and strengthen epidemiological surveillance in public health in Peru.
Key Objectives:
- Strengthen public health surveillance systems for lead exposure.
- Train healthcare professionals in effective prevention and monitoring.
- Conduct research to inform public policies.
- Enhance coordination between institutions to implement preventive actions
This alliance has strengthened the training of health personnel, who together with the Technical Unit for Epidemiological Surveillance of Environmental Risks and Climate Change of the Peruvian Ministry of Health, initiated support for the training of sentinel teams on lead exposure. With MINSA, Pure Earth Peru and Vital Strategies conducted three training sessions, including a visit to the District of Chaclacayo for the team of the Integrated Health Network Directorate DIRIS-Lima East. A promotional video was shared on social networks and on the project page. Pure Earth Peru created promotional materials such as notebooks, roll-ups and banners to distribute during the training visits.