RESULTS FROM A COMMUNITY INTERVENTION PROJECT IN THE NICARAGUAN MINING COMMUNITY EL LIMON - AN OVERVIEW

The first steps of a community involvement health project using the pr inciples of community diagnosis and popular participation were carried out in a small Nicaraguan mining village during the second half of th e 1980s. Using existing archives and obtaining new information aided b y local organizations, priorities could be established for health and safety surveillance within the mining company, as well as for further investigations concerning what seemed to be dominant health problems i n the community: serious accidents among the economically active popul ation and diarrhoea and respiratory tract infections among children, a s well as infections, and other health indicators of malnutrition. Wor kers also presented chronic simple bronchitis, ventilatory obstructive disturbance and hearing loss that were strongly associated with worki ng conditions. These results helped to direct health priorities and ed ucational activities at the local level with both the general and work ing population. The wide experience gained from this study has encoura ged us to strengthen the link between research and action and in perfo rming studies in close cooperation with local organizations.