Teleton in Mexico has been a yearly event since 1996. Through a TV and radio broadcast of more than 24 hours, it intends to collect money to help in the creation of children’s rehabilitation centers, called “Centros de Rehabilitation Infantil Teleton”, or “CRIT” (English: “Teleton Children’s Rehabilitation Center”), for children with different disabilities.(Wikipedia).
The objectives are to promote national unity based on values; to promote a culture of inclusion for people with disabilities; to build and operate rehabilitation centers for disabled children; and to support the institutions working in the disability sector through the Teleton fund raising institutions. For 13 years, Teleton has accomplished the alliance of different mass media that ever since have joined in the effort to build and strengthen a culture which benefits people with disabilities. (Teleton-Foundation).
Even if the purpose of the creation of Teleton was a way for big companies such as Televisa, Banamex and others not to pay taxes, we can see a lot of the benefits of Teleton. According to the law of unintended consequences, actions of individual, groups, or governments have effects, or consequences” that are unexpected, or unintended. These unexpected effects, or unintended consequences as they are called in academic literature, are effects that are not planned when an original action is taken, and the person or persons making the decision do not consider that these effects may result from the actions taken. Unintended consequences may turn out to be positive or negative. (Phillips).
So, in the case of the Teleton, the fruits are positive. One positive issue in the Teleton is the construction of 15 rehabilitation centers with a capacity of more than 70 000 patients, under the slogan; “Love and science in the service of life”.(Teleton-foundation). These centers are located in states where people didn’t have easy access to this kind of treatments. Another effect is that, in addition to the creation of CRITs all around the country, the CRIT System and the Autonomous University of the State of Mexico (UAEM) signed an agreement in the year 2000 which created two bachelors dedicated to the formation of the Instituto Teleton de Estudios Superiores (ITESUR), located next to the first CRIT ever built. ITESUR is the only university in Mexico that grants degrees in occupational therapy and physical therapy. (Wikipedia). So this is another option and a great opportunity for young men that want to study medicine and for whom it is sometimes hard to be admitted to medical school. Amother outcome that we can see is that the government has enacted a new law that was made public in the Official Newspaper of the Federation on June 10, 2005. This law permits the inclusion of disabled people in jobs. Another benefit is that now, children who suffer cancer or autism can also be treated. The Teleton autism program works very closely with specialized institutions in order to generate higher quality care capacity for individuals with autism. This is done through training, certification and/ or support to various institutions to which they can direct people diagnosed by the Autism Program. (Teleton-Foundation).
An additional benefit that we can see is that in the streets there are spaces for parking or ramps that permit access to people with disabilities. But one of the most positive outcomes is that the mass media, an essential part of the commitment of Teleton, are working together promoting this noble cause, strengthening and transmitting the different life histories of children with disabilities and having an effect on the Mexican people by promoting a national unity and values such as love, generosity and solidarity.
Works Cited
Phillips, Deborah. Preparation Course for the Toelf test.IBT. Longman. Second edition. Page 295.
Teleton-foundation. http://www.teleton.fundation.com.
Wikipedia.
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