Adolescents will be the focus, with special attention given to young mothers and their children. MSF is also working to set up a reference network of medical specialists and social workers to extend the range of care available and the network of support. In addition, teams will go into the streets to identify those young people who need help. To prevent children from ending up on the street in the first place, in 1997 MSF started a medical and psychological support program for children and families in Lomas de Santa Faz, a slum area of Guatemala City. The MSF team makes home visits to try and strengthen relationships between mothers and children.
Children here receive both psychological support and medical attention for at least three months.
This center will open in late 2000. Primary health care MSF also runs several primary health care programs, one in the rural region of Izabal in eastern Guatemala, and another in Champerico, on the Pacific Ocean. In Izabal, the team works in the town of Frontera to improve preventive and curative services and the management of the health district. This project serves about 30,000 people. In early 2000, MSF launched a similar program in Champerico, where the last decade has seen a sharp increase in poverty due in part to the closure of the port and the railway.