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Vital Stories

2022: Our Year in Photos

Throughout 2022, Vital Strategies worked with governments, partners and communities around the world to address some of the most pressing health challenges of our time. As the year comes to an end, we’re taking a look back at some of our favorite photos highlighting work from across our programs.

In Guadalajara, Mexico, streets surrounding El Zalate school were transformed with painted crosswalks and new delineators as part of the city’s Partnership for Healthy Cities-supported Safe Routes to Schools program.
Terrel (second from left) shared his story about drug use and using harm reduction services in an effort to reduce the stigma and shame faced by people who use drugs. Terrel is a harm reduction advocate and worker and appeared in the Vital Strategies’ Overdose Prevention Program’s “Support Harm Reduction” campaign – a national first – which was seen by 5 million people.
Vital created the first ever traveling memorial commemorating people who have died of drug overdose in the United States. Overdose deaths in the U.S. reached an all-time high of 107,000 in 2021. For International Overdose Awareness Day, Vital joined advocates to unveil the first installation of the memorial at the Newark Public Library.
In Bogotá, Colombia, Health Secretary Alejandro Gómez López used a new water fountain installed as part of a Partnership for Healthy Cities-supported healthy school food environment intervention that also included new handwashing stations as part of the city’s pandemic response.
Youth volunteers in the Philippines participating in a tree planting and beach cleanup hold native beach mats spelling “smoke-free beaches” at Sitio Sabang in Barangay Cabayugan, Puerto Princesa City, Palawan.
A commemorative event in Guadalajara, Mexico honored the lives of people lost on the city’s roads for World Day of Remembrance for Road Traffic Victims.
Rwanda has moved from a paper system to digitizing data collection on births, deaths and causes of death, leading to better, more timely data to measure population health and make evidence-based policy decisions, with assistance from Vital’s Civil Registration and Vital Statistics program. Since beginning, Rwanda has quadrupled its death registration. At this hospital in Kigali, Sister Fortunata Nzwige (midwife and vital events notifier) and Happy Mwkizu (data entry clerk) enter data at the hospital.
Ferhad Alsadad, Lead Program Manager from our Childhood Lead Poisoning Prevention Program, examines an abandoned furnace that was previously used to smelt lead-acid batteries in Pesearan village, Indonesia. Metal smelting in Indonesia continues to occur in rudimentary informal settings, lacking proper protective equipment and occupational health and safety guidelines and is a significant source of air and lead pollution to the surrounding communities.
Buenos Aires, Argentina is making more room for cyclists and pedestrians on the city’s roads with extra dedicated bike lanes and slower speeds around schools, supported by Vital’s Road Safety Program.
Accredited social health activists (ASHAs) are an essential part of the health workforce in India, acting as a bridge between the community and the health system. Here, 40 ASHA workers participated in a workshop conducted by Vital Strategies as part of the USAID-funded Cleaner Air and Better Health and Clean Air Catalyst programs. The workshop was designed to equip the ASHAs with knowledge about air pollution, its impact on health, and mitigation measures to enable them to engage the communities they serve.
On the seaside of Rio de Janeiro, ACT Health Promotion wheeled bike posters of the “Sweet Poison” campaign along the waterfront to showcase the deadly impact of sugary drinks on health. ACT led the campaign and Vital’s Food Policy Program provided technical assistance, supporting its development and execution. Photo credit: ACT Health Promotion archive

This feature was published by Vital Strategies on Dec. 16, 2022 and filed under Vital Stories.