[The impact of health promoters in an area of poor neighborhoods of Pucallpa, Peru].

In 1986, 30 months after the conclusion of a primary health care project financed by the Danish Agency for International Development, the performance of 43 voluntary health promoters in low-income neighborhoods of the city of Pucallpa, Peru, was evaluated. The evaluation included interviews with the health promoters and a survey of 152 families. The results were compared with a survey of 82 families in an index area where no promoters had been working. Approximately four-fifths of the promoters' activities were curative and one-fifth were preventive. The effect of their work, for the people served, was translated into enhanced utilization of public health care services and improved vaccination coverage. However, their work did not contribute to any improvement in drinking water hygiene or to any significant changes in the treatment of diarrhea among the population. It is recommended that programs for training health promoters continue to be included as part of the primary health care strategy.