The Carlos Slim Foundation on Tuesday presented its Health Awards to Costa Rica’s TeenSmart institution, which informs young people about health risks, and to Mexico’s Dr. Rafael Lozano Ascencio for his research linking disease with socio-demographic factors.

Foundation executive director Ricardo Mujica presented the honors to the winners in the Exceptional Institution and Research Career categories at the ninth edition of the awards.

TeenSmart and Lozano were selected from among 143 candidates from 14 countries, the institution said in a statement.

TeenSmart, a non-profit organization founded in 2004 in Costa Rica, works to help young people avoid six major categories of health risks: violence, consumption of alcohol and other drugs, tobacco use, high-risk sexual activities, lack of physical activity and poor nutrition.

Meanwhile, Dr. Lozano received his award “for his leadership in research and for his innovative work in contributing to creating more effective and efficient public policies in health.”

In a recent study, he attempted to identify with greater precision public health problems and call attention to the “real” needs of each country, especially regarding problems “that are usually invisible to the health systems,” the statement said.

The health awards recognize individual and collective work by those who dedicate their lives and efforts to “contributing to the resolution of health problems in Latin America, above all those affecting the region’s most vulnerable populations, thus helping more people to live longer and better,” the foundation said.

To provide an incentive to continue with their “extraordinary work,” each recipient is also presented with $100,000 in cash. EFE

 

Mexico City, Jun 28 (EFE)