Public Health
Galapagueños have among the highest rates of diabetes, obesity, and related diseases in Ecuador.
In 2019, the GERA Public Health team undertook an initial community health needs assessment that identified high-priority topics, such as nutrition and teen pregnancy prevention. This team is currently developing a set of public health projects to address these needs, including ongoing community participatory research and educational campaigns. The second focus of the public health project is sewage. Due to inadequate infrastructure, raw sewage frequently is pumped into the harbor in front of Puerto Baquerizo Moreno. This poses a serious problem for human health and the health of the aquatic ecosystem. To begin to address this issue, we plan to use targeted diagnostics to quantify fecal contamination in municipal and Park water supplies.
“We can’t expect people to keep their environment healthy when they aren’t healthy themselves.”