Empowering Youth in Mexico to Make Positive Decisions Towards Their Health

The AstraZeneca Young Health Program in Mexico incorporates the perspective of peers and recognizes the ability of adolescents and young people to know, learn and make their own decisions.

Yoseline, a 23-year-old girl who had just decided to study Health Promotion, found out about the existence of the AstraZeneca Young Health Programme (YHP) through the social networks of one of her classmates. When she saw that health issues would be worked on such as food, addiction prevention and the environment, she was very interested in participating. These are topics that had always caught her attention, so she applied and days later, she received her acceptance letter. “That made me very happy for two reasons, one, I already had a more personal project and two, the responsibility of sharing the information with more people,” she said.

In Mexico, based on the 2020-2070 population projections of the National Population Council (CONAPO), it is estimated that during 2023 around 131.1 million people will reside, of which 66,997,184 are women and 64,138,153 are men. The proportion of young people between 12 and 29 years old is 30.7%. Adolescents and young people are at a stage in which they are acquiring information and tools that will be decisive in structuring their life projects and some behaviors may be decisive.? The prevalence of current alcohol consumption in the Mexican adolescent population was 20.6%, with the prevalence being higher in men (22.0%) than in women (19.2%). The prevalence of current consumption increased with age, from 3.8% in the 10- to 12-year-old group to 52.1% in the 18- to 19-year-old group. At the time of beginning sexual life, 20.9% reported not having used any protection method in the first sexual relationship, with a higher percentage in women (30.5%) than in men (12.0%).

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“AstraZeneca’s YHP focuses on the prevention of non-communicable diseases (NCDs) addressing topics such as physical activity, prevention of alcohol consumption, tobacco, pollution and the environment, healthy eating, mental and emotional health, sexuality, among others social issues and problems that directly impact the lives of adolescents and young people,” says Corina Martínez Project HOPE’s country director in Mexico. “We seek to ensure that they have more information, knowledge, skills and abilities so that they can reduce risk behaviors, make positive decisions for their lives and have quality health services and with a support system in public policies, which contribute to their full development.”

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Seven months after Yoseline finished her training as a YHP promoter, she was looking for job options that would allow her to develop professionally. Searching the internet, she ??found that Project HOPE Mexico had open applications to be part of the team of facilitators who are in charge of operating the program. “I was very hesitant to send my CV, I was afraid that they would not accept me, I reached out and asked if I could participate and they told me yes, I immediately sent my application and I went through my selection process, waited, I got an interview and finally, after all that journey, they notified me that was part of the team as a program facilitator at Project HOPE Mexico! Imagine getting paid to do what you love, it's like a dream,” said Joseline.

“Meeting for the first time the other facilitators, YHP promoters and Project HOPE staff made me very happy, I was able to realize that there were more people who were interested in these topics, and I was able to put into practice everything I had learned in the sessions. All this made me excited and motivated me to be more involved!”

Project HOPE Mexico focuses on creating a space for the strengthening and growth of adolescents and young people, where they can find a safe space that listens to them, addresses their needs and where they can build confidence to develop and implement all their ideas. Here they find other young people who are being part of projects that change the realities of the country.

“What motivates me every day as part of YHP and Project Hope Mexico is that more young people help and can share the information received in the sessions with their family, friends, and classmates. It motivates me that young people get excited with me to do activities or replicate them with their other classmates. They give me the confidence to help them. Something that marked my personal life, thanks to YHP, is that I made the decision to start exercising, I had never exercised and giving that pampering and love to my body has been one of the best decisions I have made.”

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“YHP gave me a different vision in my personal life, all my life I will remember this project with a lot of love for the multiple opportunities and friendships that it has allowed me to create throughout these years, I hope to continue sharing all this knowledge and experience with more young people.”

To learn more about the Young Health Programme (YHP), please visit: https://www.projecthope.org/news-stories/press-release/mexico-empowering-young-people-to-practice-healthier-habits/

Authors:

Yoseline Osorio – Program Facilitator, Youth Health Programme (YHP)

Lizbeth Quezada – Program Coordinator, Project Hope

Corina Martínez- Country Director, Project HOPE