A Note From the Executive Director

What We Do › Healthy Communities › Other Resources › AIHA Brochure: Safer Streets, Longer Lives: Creating A Healthy Community › A Note From the Executive Director

While US cities have been battling drug abuse among young people for decades, the problem is a relatively new one for the citizens of Petrzalka, Slovakia. In this urban neighborhood within the capital city of Bratislava, residents have seen a startling increase in the flow of illegal drugs since the political upheaval of the early 1990s opened national borders.

Two years ago, a group of Petrzalka's community leaders decided to take action to address this problem through a partnership with Truman Medical Center in Kansas City, Missouri. Since that time, they have started a series of monthly anti-drug forums to encourage communication among teenagers, parents, politicians and police officers about the harmful effects of drug use.

This is just one example of how healthy communities partnerships, supported by AIHA under a cooperative agreement with the US Agency for International Development (USAID), have succeeded in empowering citizens to identify community problems and introduce solutions themselves. Petrzalka and a constellation of other Slovak cities--including Turcianske Teplice, Martin and Banska Bystrica, all partnered with The MetroHealth System in Cleveland, Ohio--now serve as the foundation for the healthy communities program, addressing a range of health issues in a democracy-building context.

This publication serves as a resource on AIHA's healthy communities initiative, summarizing many of the partnerships' diverse achievements and providing a step-by-step guide to creating a healthy community. It also features several abstracts submitted for the November 19-21, 1997 International Healthy Communities Dissemination Conference in Banska Bystrica. Close to 150 Slovak, US and Central and Eastern European community leaders will convene at the conference to discuss topics ranging from community needs assessment to fundraising to health planning.

I encourage AIHA partners and others to learn from our Slovak colleagues' successes in mobilizing citizens to take up the challenge for a safer and healthier lifestyle.

James P. Smith

Executive Director
American International Health Alliance

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