In the next few months, HEPRO will visit 1000 inhabitants in Alytus. - Our infrastructure does not enable us to send surveys by mail, said Ernesta Noreikiene.

She coordinates HEPRO´s work in Alytus and is anticipating the beginning of the survey in the city.

- Although our infrastructure does not permit mailed surveys, we are at the same contributing greatly to HEPRO´s tool kit. We intend to knock on people´s doors and ask whether we can interview them. The challenge is to make the interviews comparable with the results from mailed surveys. As the results from HEPRO eventually will be distributed throughout Europe, it is important that we also have time to experiment with this method of compiling information. There are still a large number of local societies where direct contact with the inhabitants is necessary in order to find relevant information.

In Alytus, the surveys will lead to new ways of conducting preventory and health promoting public health work.

- We have never previously been able to accurately document the health status of our inhabitants. We hope the surveys will make us more systematic and knowledge-based in our approaches to health problems, and thus, we believe these interviews can be valuable contributions, she said.