Mexico City and PAHO/WHO Join Forces to Evaluate UTOPÍAS Health Model
Mexico City, March 20, 2026 – The Pan American Health Organization/World Health Organization (PAHO/WHO) and the Mexico City Public Health Secretariat are intensifying their collaboration to assess the impact of the Units for Transformation and Organization for Social Inclusion and Harmony (UTOPÍAS). This innovative model of social care and health promotion aims to transform the quality of life in communities across the nation’s capital.
During a working meeting held on Thursday, March 19, Nadine Gasman, Secretary of Public Health for Mexico City, welcomed the PAHO/WHO technical team. She highlighted UTOPÍAS as a central component of the public policy championed by the Head of Government, Clara Brugada, which seeks to make public spaces accessible and free for everyone.
“UTOPÍAS represent a public policy of occupation, a political conceptualization that space is public, that it must be public, that it must be free, that it must be for everyone, and that it must respond to the needs of different groups,” Gasman stated, emphasizing inter-institutional and inter-sectoral collaboration as fundamental pillars.
“We want to be a city that produces health. We don’t want to dedicate ourselves solely to treating illness, but to truly produce health,” she underscored, highlighting the importance of PAHO’s support in jointly planning the next steps for the UTOPÍAS evaluation.
PAHO/WHO Representative Emphasizes Evaluation Goals
José Moya, PAHO/WHO Representative in Mexico, expressed gratitude to the Government of Mexico City and its Public Health Secretariat for following up on agreements reached during PAHO Director Jarbas Barbosa’s visit in 2025.
Moya explained that within the framework of PAHO’s Special Initiative on Urban Governance for Health and Well-being, the evaluation of these public spaces aims to analyze their effectiveness, relevance, impact, and sustainability. This assessment will be conducted from a health promotion and well-being perspective, based on care, and will identify lessons learned and recommendations for strengthening and expanding the program.
Developing a Comprehensive Evaluation Methodology
Sanjeev Sridharan, an international consultant on PAHO evaluation, who spent two days visiting UTOPÍAS and observing the work of teams in the Iztapalapa borough, discussed the importance of developing an evaluation methodology that captures the essence of this model. “The motivation for this visit was to have initial contact to understand what UTOPÍAS are, what type of service they provide, the key people who make these spaces work, and also how users integrate and build community.”
He emphasized the need for an evaluation focused on improvement and expansion. “The evaluation should provide feedback to say how they can improve. It should not be a ‘thumbs up’ or ‘thumbs down’ evaluation,” he explained, stressing that the objective is to understand this model as a dynamic process adaptable to different contexts, while highlighting the importance of documenting the UTOPÍA model respectfully of its diversity.
The PAHO technical team that also participated in the meeting and the work agenda around the UTOPÍAS evaluation included Fernanda Lanzagorta, Ximena Maroto, Yamila Comes, and Adriano Tavares.
This collaboration marks a significant step towards understanding and enhancing the impact of UTOPÍAS on the health and well-being of Mexico City’s communities, with the aim of fostering a city that proactively produces health rather than merely responding to illness.
Source: https://www.paho.org/es/noticias/20-3-2026-secretaria-salud-publica-ciudad-mexico-ops-colaboran-para-evaluacion-utopias
