RESUMO
[Presentation and Rationale]. This document is intended for local personnel in the health services, the Red Cross, and other social players involved in the health area, to support them in carrying out an assessment of their local situation and its health problems, especially those related to children under the age of 5. It also seeks to understand why the situation has occurred, so that a plan of work can finally be developed that will be effective in tackling the problem. The World Health Organization (WHO) and the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) promote the world initiative of Integrated Management of Childhood Illness (IMCI), a strategy that has been validated and accepted as one of the primary interventions for improving the health situation of children in the Americas. This strategy is implemented through three operational components: ➤ Improving the skills of health workers by providing them with the knowledge and practices that will enable them to treat children better and on a timely basis; ➤ Strengthening the organization of health services so that they can respond to child health problems effectively through networks. ➤ Incorporate families and communities into the effort to improve family and community practices in protecting and caring for children.