health Archives - Sugarcane Industry

25 October, 20223 November, 2022

The Sugar Race returns in its 35th edition and marks the beginning of the Zafra 2022-2023

With the participation of around two thousand five hundred runners, on October 23rd the 35th edition of the Sugar Race was held, organized by the Guatemala Sugar Technicians Association -Atagua-, with the support of the Guatemalan Sugar Producers Association -Asazgua-.

The Sugar Race marks the beginning of the Zafra, which is the harvest season for sugarcane and sugar production on the South of Guatemala. It had a 10.5-kilometer route and was divided into the categories Free, Master, Sugar Mill Workers and Atagua’s associates.

The sweetest race of the year began with the arrival of runners, family members and fans at Ingenio Concepcion in Escuintla; then, the runners gathered behind the start line where they sang the national anthem and at 8:00 Luis Miguel Paiz, general manager of Asazgua, gave the starting signal.

Thousands of runners filled the main streets of the City of Escuintla and hundreds of people cheered them on. During the 10.5 kilometers of the race route, there were hydration stations and medical assistance.

The first to cross the finish line was Alberto González Mindez, completing the course in 30 minutes and 21 seconds. Viviana Arochi was the first woman to conquer the route in 37 minutes and 21 seconds. The winner of first place in the male Master´s category was Francisco González Sut, with 33:56 minutes and the female Master was Olga Mariela Rodas Morales with 42:44.

At the end of the race, there were contests and prizes for the attendees, while the runners made use of the showers and enjoyed the hydration made available to them by the organizers.

16 August, 20228 September, 2022

Health workers participate in the “Information for Action” seminars by Fundazucar

The Sugar Foundation -Fundazucar- in alliance with the Pan-American University -UPANA- and the Ministry of Public Health and Social Assistance -MSPAS- impart preventive health seminars “Information for Action” to 500 public health workers from the South of Guatemala.

The seminars will be held in 3 sessions of 5 hours each in August, September, and November of this year, in which health workers from the Guatemalan departments of Escuintla, Suchitepéquez, Retalhuleu, Santa Rosa and Jutiapa participate. The call has been a success because 95% participation of public health professionals has been reached in the first seminar.

The training will be given by UPANA and the following topics will be addressed:

Situation room: elements, structure, and analysis.
Future of non-communicable chronic diseases -CND-: evolution, impact, and vigilance.
Data for decision making: collection, databases and introduction to data mining.

The objective of these seminars is to strengthen the technical skills and attitude of service of public health servers. It also seeks to deepen epidemiological surveillance, so that the health service can focus in a timely manner on health promotion and disease prevention.

Epidemiological surveillance consists of collecting data on a specific health problem; its analysis, interpretation and use in the planning, implementation, and evaluation of health programs.

Last year, 535 health professionals from the South of Guatemala were trained by the Sugar Foundation -Fundazucar-, in alliance with the Ministry of Public Health and Social Assistance in methodologies for the prevention of COVID-19 and strategies for the promotion preventive health in diseases such as dengue, zika and chikungunya; as well as monitoring of pregnant women and women with children up to two years old in what is called the “window of a thousand days”.

17 June, 202223 June, 2022

Fundazucar celebrates 32 years of promoting health, education, and development on the South of Guatemala

32 years ago, the Guatemalan Sugar Industry joined forces and created the Sugar Foundation -Fundazucar-, which was born as the dream of a group of visionary businessmen who bet on education to promote development on the South of Guatemala.

Fundazucar is the social arm of the Guatemalan Sugar Industry, since 1990 it promotes the integral development of the communities, working with women, youth, health workers, teachers, community leaders and municipal authorities as agents of change.

At the Guatemalan Sugar Industry, we celebrate the 32nd anniversary of Fundazucar, which believes in development through training, an example of which is Better Families, a model that promotes Food and Nutritional Security, self-esteem, self-management and leadership in women, as agents of change for the development and well-being of their families and their communities and has trained more than 532 thousand women.

The program has been so successful that it was implemented in Honduras and is currently being adopted by the municipalities of Escuintla, Masagua, La Gomera, La Democracia, Tiquisate in the department of Escuintla, as well as in San Lorenzo and San Jose el idolo, in Suchitepequez.

During these 32 years, the Sugar Foundation has provided training to thousands of people and has contributed to the development and well-being of the communities with comprehensive community development plans and the preparation of technical projects for the construction of drinking water systems. and drains.

Fundazucar has also facilitated access to health for thousands of people through specialized clinics located in Escuintla.

Thanks to the commitment and effort of the team of social managers who bring training and development to remote communities on the South of Guatemala, Fundazucar has positioned itself as an example and benchmark in community development projects at a national and international level.

We congratulate Fundazucar on its 32nd anniversary and the leaders who had the vision to create the social arm of the Guatemalan Sugar Industry.

11 November, 2021

Health professionals are trained with the “Health Comes First” program of Fundazucar

Health professionals are trained thanks to Fundazúcar's “Health Comes First” program

More than 437 health professionals from 65 health posts and health centers on the South of Guatemala are trained with the “Health Comes First” program of the Sugar Foundation -Fundazucar- in alliance with the Ministry of Health and Social Assistance with the aim of promoting health preventive in the communities.

Since 2016 Fundazucar, in alliance with the Ministry of Health, has promoted the innovative program “Health Comes First”, which trains public health workers to develop technical skills and an attitude of service.

In addition, joint prevention actions are carried out against COVID-19 and vector-borne diseases such as dengue, Zika and / or chinkunguya through the education and training of human resources in the health sector and in the communities of the South of Guatemala.

Some of the actions that have been carried out as part of the “Health Comes First” program are:

Delivery of the Protocol “Plan for the prevention, containment and response to cases of COVID-19” from the Ministry of Health to 65 health services of the South of Guatemala.
Trainings for 500 health professionals distributed in 12 face-to-face and / or virtual training workshops on the COVID-19 protocol of the Ministry of Health and preventive health promotion, with an emphasis on the “1,000-day window” and diseases caused by vectors such as Zika, Dengue and Chinkunguya; with 93% attendance.
Technical support to health professionals for the use and updating of epidemiological data analysis, with the aim of developing a culture of analysis of the information produced for making timely decisions.
Nine deliveries of Personal Protective Equipment -EPP- to 917 health workers in the priority area of the South of Guatemala to protect health workers on the first line of attention to COVID-19.
Participation of the Fundazucar team in 70 Nutritional Brigades for the active search for children with Acute Malnutrition, in coordination with the Ministry of Health and the Secretary of Food and Nutritional Security in 10 municipalities of 4 departments of the South of Guatemala.

“The Guatemalan Sugar Industry promotes the development and well-being of the communities through a responsible operation and the execution of social programs aligned with the Sustainable Development Goals -SDG-“, affirmed Maria Silvia Pineda, Sustainability Manager of -Asazgua- and director of Fundazucar.

20 July, 2021

The Guatemalan Sugar Industry promotes sports and a healthy lifestyle

The Guatemalan Sugar Industry promotes sports and a healthy lifestyle and this Tuesday proudly announced that now sponsors the FC Santa Lucia Cotzumalguapa team of the National Soccer League.

“The Guatemalan Sugar Industry is very committed to issues of health, education, community development, and today we are getting involved in another important activity such as sport,” said Alvaro Ruiz, vice president of the Guatemalan Sugar Producers Association -Asazgua-.

Also, Rodolfo Puertas, president of FC Santa Lucia Cotzumalguapa, current champion of the National League, said “for us it is a privilege to have this association (as a sponsor) and to be able to count on the support of the sugar sector.”

The Guatemalan Sugar Industry considers physical activity as a fundamental element for a healthy lifestyle, and supports events such as the Sugar Race, a 10.5 kilometers route that marks the beginning of the Zafra and has been carried out every year since 1987.

Another important component for a healthy life is food security, the Sugar Industry through the Sugar Foundation -Fundazucar- has implemented the Better Families program that promotes food and nutritional security, as well as the empowerment of women as agents of change and catalyst for development.

The program has been so successful that four municipalities of the South of the country signed a cooperation agreement with Fundazucar for the transfer of the methodology that allows educating mothers in preventive health with sustainable actions to improve the conditions of their children, family and community.

17 February, 2021

In 2020, Fundazucar’s social programs focused on the fight against COVID-19

Last year was difficult due to the beginning of the COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic, so the Guatemalan Sugar Industry, through its Sugar Foundation -Fundazucar-, has demonstrated its commitment to Guatemalans.

917 health workers received 3 personal protection kits

Since the beginning of the health emergency, the Guatemalan Sugar Industry focused on supporting the efforts of health workers who are on the front line in the fight against COVID-19 and in 2020, through Fundazucar, delivered 2,751 kits for the same number of health service workers on the South of Guatemala.

The kits included 4 KN95 masks, 2 gowns, 3 pairs of gloves, and 1 face shield. 48 health services of 5 departments of the South of the country were also benefited with alcohol, antibacterial gel and disposable paper towels.

In addition, in coordination with Health Area Directorates, 499 workers from 65 health services were trained on issues of prevention and care against COVID-19.

540 public workers trained to prevent COVID-19 in markets and plazas

The Guatemalan Sugar Industry through their social arm, Fundazucar, joined with the Guatemalan Association of Exporters (AGEXPORT) to train 540 public workers from 25 municipalities with the purpose of supporting them in the implementation of measures to prevent COVID-19 in markets and plazas.

Also, Fundazucar delivered supplies for attention and prevention of COVID-19 to 25 municipalities on the South of Guatemala for visitors of markets and plazas. In total, 7,284 surgical masks and 693 gallons of glycerinated alcohol were donated during the year.

1,080 community leaders trained in social development with an emphasis on COVID-19 prevention

The Communities in Development program of the Sugar Foundation, was adapted to the context of the pandemic. To do this, Fundazucar trained 1,080 community leaders from 143 communities on the South of Guatemala in 7 topics of social development in prevention of COVID-19.

This program promotes community participation through the local Community Development Committees –COCODE- aimed at planning the social and economic development of their communities.

With the advice of Fundazucar, the communities prepared their annual planning, this time the main component was the fight against COVID-19, this as part of a long-term plan for Comprehensive Community Development.

Prevention campaign against COVID-19 on the South of Guatemala

The COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic is still present in the country and to prevent further infections, Fundazucar has carried out a prevention campaign in municipalities on the South of Guatemala.

In 143 communities, posters were placed with the protocols recommended by the Ministry of Health and Social Assistance and with key prevention and mitigation messages were installed in 44 markets and squares of 25 municipalities on the South of Guatemala with the aim of supporting municipal authorities with strategies to minimize infections in their municipalities.

In addition, prevention messages were transmitted through vehicle-mounted loudspeaker in 26 municipalities of the South of Guatemala with the aim of recall community members to continue with the prevention and mitigation measures of COVID-19 and not relax in the face of the increase in cases while continuing with their daily activities.

18 January, 202119 January, 2021

Crusade for Nutrition in Guatemala reached more than 9,900 children with the assistance of the Sugar Foundation

Great National Crusade for Nutrition in the South Cost

The Sugar Foundation -Fundazucar- supported the Great National Crusade for Nutrition in Guatemala after signing an alliance with the Secretariat of Food and Nutrition Security of Guatemala -Sesan- and the Ministry of Public Health and Social Assistance -MSPAS-, in which more than 9 thousand children were tested to detect cases of malnutrition.

This strategic alliance made possible the detection of cases of acute malnutrition in boys and girls; and to achieve so, Fundazucar formed brigades to search for such cases in four departments of the South of Guatemala between August and December 2020.

Fundazucar’s brigades reached 112 communities located in 16 municipalities on the South of Guatemala where they tested 9,919 children for signs of malnutrition.

After the tests, 65 cases of children with acute malnutrition were detected, their mothers received a food plan through a nutritionist, counseling, and the children are now under the surveillance of the Government Ministry of Health, with weight and height monitoring.