Company: FUNDACION MUNDO SANO
Company Description: Mundo Sano is a family foundation which has been working since 1993 to transform the reality of people affected by neglected diseases (e.g. Chagas, dengue, yellow fever) through long-term intervention programs, which include sensitization, prevention, diagnosis and treatment actions. With headquarters in Argentina and Spain, FMS also carries out research projects in Ethiopia and Mozambique.
Nomination Category: Company / Organization Categories
Nomination Sub Category: Corporate Social Responsibility Program of the Year - in Mexico, the Caribbean & Central and South America
 Nomination Title: Comprehensive approach to COVID-19, a model that saved lives
- Which will you submit for your nomination in this category, a video of up to five (5) minutes in length about the achievements of the nominated organization since 1 January 2021, OR written answers to the questions for this category? (Choose one):
Written answers to the questions
- If you are submitting a video of up to five (5) minutes in length, provide the URL of the nominated video here, OR attach it to your entry via the "Add Attachments, Videos, or Links to This Entry" link above, through which you may also upload a copy of your video.
- If you are providing written answers for your submission, you must provide an answer to this first question: Briefly describe the nominated organization: its history and past performance (up to 200 words):
Total 185 words used.
Mundo Sano is a Latin American foundation created in 1993 that aims to contribute to improving access to health care for people affected by neglected tropical diseases (NTDs), which mainly affect the most vulnerable populations.
Our principal area of work is the development of programmes and projects to tackle Chagas, helminthiasis, hydatidosis, and mosquito-borne diseases, like dengue, chikungunya and zika. We promote research and innovation to contribute to prevent, control, eliminate and eradicate these diseases.
Using a holistic approach, we develop efficient, replicable, scalable and transferable management models, giving priority to the consolidation of public-private institutional partnerships in different regions of the Americas, Europe and Africa.
Our work is associated with and framed within the strategies established by the World Health Organization (WHO) and the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO), and contributes directly to the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
During the COVID-19 pandemic, we also joined the “COVID-19 Clinical Research Coalition,” created to accelerate clinical research on the disease in resource-limited countries. Published in the medical journal The Lancet, it involved more than seventy leading international organizations related to science and medicine.
- If you are providing written answers for your submission, you must provide an answer to this second question: Outline the organization's achievements since the beginning of 2021 that you wish to bring to the judges' attention (up to 250 words):
Total 244 words used.
In collaboration with various governmental, public and civil organizations, Mundo Sano implemented a comprehensive approach model for health management within the context of the COVID-19 emergency, in the San Antonio de Areco district, in the province of Buenos Aires, Argentina.
- Implementation began in March 2020, was maintained through 2021 and 2022, and was recognized with a publication in the British Medical Journal.
- Due to its originality and the results obtained, it was evaluated in 2022 by the PAHO.
- In 2022 Ernst & Young positively analyzed its impact and efficiency to mobilize and allocate resources.
The comprehensive approach model sought to control the spread of SARS-CoV-2 and prevent the response capacity of local health services from being exceeded. It was based on:
- Systematic and early detection of infected people with and without symptoms, allowing the visualization of the “transparent links” of the contagion chain and the consequent isolation and monitoring.
- Intensive and meticulous epidemiological surveillance of groups at higher risk of infection.
- Early and intensive implementation of different therapeutic options.
Another innovative aspect was the use of the pools methodology to carry out PCR tests in asymptomatic people, which allowed the number of studies to be multiplied by five.
As a result, the model prevented community circulation of the virus and the response capacity of local health services from overloading. San Antonio de Areco reached and maintained the lowest case-fatality and mortality rates of COVID-19 in the region and in the province of Buenos Aires.
- If you are providing written answers for your submission, you must provide an answer to this third question: Explain why the achievements you have highlighted are unique or significant. If possible compare the achievements to the performance of other players in your industry and/or to the organization's past performance (up to 250 words):
Total 242 words used.
Achievements of the model
- EPIDEMIOLOGICAL SURVEILLANCE OF HEALTH-CARE STAFF reduced the spread of the virus.
- THOROUGH FOLLOW-UP OF PATIENTS AND CONTACT TRACKING AND MONITORING was critical to containing outbreaks.
- THE USE OF POOLED PCR TESTS made it possible to detect invisible cases, which in turn made it possible to achieve a low incidence rate.
- INNOVATIVE CARE STRATEGIES reduced hospitalizations and had a direct impact on case-fatality and mortality rates.
Results by September 2021
- The case-fatality rate of COVID-19 in San Antonio de Areco was 1.3%, way below the regional (2.8%) and provincial (2.6%) averages.
- The specific mortality rate of COVID-19 was 21.4%, way below the regional (35.6%) and provincial (30.8%) averages.
- The occupancy of hospital beds didn’t reach 70%, not even at the most critical moments of the health emergency.
- The beds at the Intensive Care Unit were never fully taken, so no patient required to be referred due to lack of them.
The experience in San Antonio de Areco is an outstanding example of how cooperation between the public and private sectors can have successful results in extreme health emergencies.
Not only was the local health system strengthened, but effective methods were also developed to address the disease and lessons were learned that can be applied to health care in general in other areas with situations and characteristics similar to those of San Antonio de Areco, in Argentina and in other parts of the world.
- You have the option to answer this final question: Reference any attachments of supporting materials throughout this nomination and how they provide evidence of the claims you have made in this nomination (up to 250 words):
Total 35 words used.
"Comprehensive approach to COVID-19, a model that saved lives.pdf", with all the details of the project that allowed San Antonio de Areco to become a paradigm in the management of the COVID-19 health emergency.
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