Information and Communication Tasks of BZgA

The information and communication tasks of BZgA essentially relate to three extensive key fields:
(1) General health education, focusing on health promotion for children and young people
(2) Long-term, nationwide education campaigns and programmes (HIV/AIDS prevention, drug prevention, sex education)
(3) Education in other subject areas with particular priority in terms of health

(1) General health education, focusing on health promotion for children and young people

Our education measures in this key field are intended to strengthen the health-related skills of children and young people, and to offer them assistance in adopting a health-oriented approach to tackling the various stages of their development, from childhood and adolescence all the way to adulthood.
In this process of development and learning, cooperation with the persons of reference of children and young people is a necessary prerequisite for the success of the measures.
Depending on the development phase, not only the parents or the family need to be addressed: educators, teachers, doctors and supervisors in leisure facilities, sports clubs, etc. are equally important cooperation partners.

The goals of BZgA’s work in the context of the key field of "health promotion for children" are particularly geared to the strategy of the Federal Government for promoting child health, the proposed recommendations for action elaborated by Robert Koch Institute and BZgA under the title "Erkennen - Bewerten - Handeln: Zur Gesundheit von Kindern und Jugendlichen in Deutschland" ("Identify - Evaluate - Act: Health of Children and Adolescents in Germany"), and "IN FORM" ("IN GOOD SHAPE"), the National Action Plan for the prevention of malnutrition, exercise deficits, obesity and associated illnesses.

Goals
- Promotion of children’s healthy physical, emotional and social development by strengthening the health-related skills of parents and the skills of professionals;
- Promotion of healthy nutritional, exercise and stress regulation behaviour in childhood, and thus reduction of illnesses due to nutrition, exercise deficits and stress, such as postural damage, obesity and psychological disorders, by communicating corresponding skills to parents and other supervisors;
- Activation of regional and supraregional structures that serve to achieve the aforementioned goals, especially in settings.

You can find a detailed presentation of our measures in this field here.
Our offerings on the subjects of nutrition, exercise and coping with stress can be found here.

The debate about child neglect and abuse has aroused public awareness of the community’s responsibility for protecting children better than in the past. In the framework of the action programme of the Federal Ministry for Family Affairs, Senior Citizens, Women and Youth entitled "Early Assistance for Parents and Children and Social Early-Warning Systems", the Federal Centre for Health Education and the German Youth Institute (DJI) have jointly been operating the "National Centre on Early Prevention" (NZFH) since 2007. The overriding goal of NZFH is to protect children against dangers earlier and better by networking the assistance provided by the health system and the child and youth welfare sector as effectively as possible.

Information on our activities in the framework of the "National Centre on Early Prevention" can be found here.

We achieve synergistic effects by combining the target group-specific measures for children and young people in the fields of drug prevention and sex education, as well as in AIDS prevention.

(2) Long-term, nationwide education campaigns and programmes (HIV/AIDS prevention, drug prevention, sex education)

We implement long-term education campaigns and programmes in subject areas that require nationwide and nationally uniform action, particularly on the basis of federal programmes for averting dangers and to fulfil statutory mandates. In this context, we not only initiate population-wide education measures, but also support and complement measures implemented by other providers of health education. Only an approach that creates a prevention-promoting climate in the whole of society, actively incorporates the settings in which people live and supports every individual by offering counselling and information, can be expected to achieve lasting success.

• We have been implementing the nationwide AIDS education campaign "Don’t give AIDS a chance" since 1985, and in the framework of the Programme for Immediate Assistance in AIDS Control since 1987. The Strategy of the Federal Government to Fight HIV/AIDS, adopted in July 2005, expanded the principal goal of "Prevention of new HIV infections" to include other sexually transmitted infectious diseases. The "Action Plan to Implement the Strategy of the Federal Government to Fight HIV/AIDS", adopted by the Federal Cabinet in March 2007, names BZgA as the agency responsible for implementing significant parts of the Action Plan in the field of "prevention".
  You can find detailed information on this campaign here.
• Drug prevention on the basis of the National Programme on Drug Abuse Control has been a key field of our work since 1990. Other important foundations for our work in the field of drug prevention currently include: the 2003 Action Plan on Drugs and Addiction, the 2008 Drug and Addiction Report of the Federal Government’s Drug Commissioner, the Recommendations of the Drug and Addiction Council to the Federal Government’s Drug Commissioner regarding a National Action Programme for Tobacco Prevention and a National Action Programme for Alcohol Prevention (2008), as well as the Federal Government’s Strategy for Promoting Child Health and the proposed recommendations for action elaborated by Robert Koch Institute and BZgA under the title "Erkennen - Bewerten - Handeln: Zur Gesundheit von Kindern und Jugendlichen in Deutschland" ("Identify - Evaluate - Act: Health of Children and Adolescents in Germany").
  You can find more extensive information and links relating to drug prevention here.
• Owing to the adoption of the Act on Pregnancies in Conflict Situations, we have been entrusted with the key topic of sexuality education and family planning since 1992. We cooperate with the supreme Länder authorities and the family counselling institutions of all providers to develop concepts and to elaborate and disseminate nationally uniform measures for sexuality education and family planning.
  More extensive information on this key field can be found here.

(3) Education in other subject areas with particular priority in terms of health Nationwide motivation campaign on organ donation

According to Section 2 of the German Transplantation Act (TPG), BZgA has the task of informing the public and thus laying the foundations for tackling the subject. The motto of the information and motivation campaign, "Organ donation means life", indicates the importance of organ and tissue donation, but without urging people to take a particular decision. The aim is to motivate as many people as possible to fill out an organ donor card and carry it with them.
You can find further information here.

Vaccination and personal protection against infections
To protect the population against infectious diseases, the BZgA is implementing various measures for vaccination and hygiene education. Its goal is to increase the motivation of the age and indication groups recommended by the STIKO to get vaccinated and to improve personal hygiene practices.
Please find more detailed information here.

Blood and plasma donation
The aim of the nationwide information and motivation campaign on blood and plasma donation is to promote a willingness to donate blood and actual donation activity among young people. This is intended to compensate for the impact of demographic change and counteract the foreseeable future supply bottlenecks in the medium and long term.
You can find more information on the campaign here.

Health of the elderly
Against the backdrop of demographic change, the subject of "health promotion and prevention for the elderly" is increasingly coming to the fore.
The National Action Plan "IN FORM" ("IN GOOD SHAPE") for avoiding malnutrition, exercise deficits, obesity and associated illnesses creates important framework conditions for implementing this key field at BZgA.
More detailed information on the activities and measures of BZgA in this subject area can be found here.

Women’s health
Situations in life, lifestyles and health problems specific to women call for health promotion specifically for women. BZgA provides an Internet-based pool of information on important topics of women’s health at www.frauengesundheitsportal.de. Numerous direct links and download options offer users a thematically structured, professionally verified selection of information.
You can find more information here.

Equal health opportunities
Health inequalities are documented for all European countries. In Germany, too, there is a clear connection between social status and the risk of falling ill or dying prematurely. Therefore, BZgA, together with national and international cooperation partners, coordinates two projects (www.gesundheitliche-chancengleichheit.de and www.health-inequalities.eu), both of which aim to collect existing measures and strategies for eliminating health inequalities, exchange expertise, and identify and further disseminate examples of Good Practice.
You can find further information here.