Atibaia wins David Capistrano Award for Health action in combating hunger

The City of Atibaia won the prestigious David Capistrano Award, last Friday (19), thanks to an action by the Department of Health, at the Family Health Unit (USF) Boa Vista, aimed at combating hunger. With the theme “SUStainability in PHC: Combating HUNGER and food insecurity in SUS care territories”, the municipality’s initiative was one of 15 awarded, among 1,687 submitted works, from 149 different cities.

Food available
The action came after the family health strategy team identified, through reception, that some families were in a situation of food deprivation. Community health agents then proposed to the city’s producers that the food that would be discarded be collected by the unit and offered for free collection on the USF premises by families in situations of food insecurity.

Currently, during events, food is offered (available from Free Markets) in front of USF Boa Vista, where families have free access to collect what they need, being instructed to only take what will be used for consumption by their peers , so that it is avoided

More agents in units
Reinforcing its family health strategy model in the municipality, Atibaia City Hall recently hired 62 new community agents, professionals who are essential for the integration of Primary Care health services with the community, improving the care provided to the population.

Importance of the award
“The David Capistrano Award is important based on practical actions in the field of health care in an integral way, but not only. It reinforces the need for professionals who work in the Unified Health System, within the context of a formation of a country like Brazil, with so many social inequalities, health problems and inequities, have the understanding for practical action of one of its constitutional values, which is equity, that is, social justice”, stated Deise Pimenta, head of the Division of Mental Health and one of the authors, along with Andréia Ferreira da Silva, community health agent at USF Boa Vista.

Award in 2021
This is not the first time that Atibaia has won the David Capistrano Award. In 2021, the city was awarded for training Education professionals in the Covid-19 pandemic. At the time, the Departments of Health and Education developed an extremely strict, detailed and judicious protocol in preventive care for Covid-19 in preparation for the return of in-person classes. In 2022, Atibaia received an honorable mention due to vaccination against Covid-19 among the homeless and shelter population.

Who was David Capistrano
Doctor and public health specialist David Capistrano da Costa Filho, after whom the award is named, was born in Recife, in 1948, and followed a consolidated path in defense of comprehensive, universal and free healthcare. He collaborated in drafting the text that gave rise to the chapter on the SUS in the 1988 Constitution and was also responsible for the creation and implementation of the Family Doctor and Health Agents programs, paving the way for a new perspective in Brazilian public health. David Capistrano died in 2000.

Registration record
This year, the 20th Exhibition of Successful Municipal Experiences and 13th David Capistrano Award reached a record number of entries. A total of 1,687 works were registered, from 149 cities. The Exhibition took place during the 37th Congress of Municipal Health Secretaries of the State of São Paulo, between the 17th and 19th of April, in Santos (SP), and was divided into 12 axes, with the Primary Care axis being the one that received the most works, followed by Health Promotion and People Management, Work and Continuing Education (PE). Atibaia presented 34 works.