INTEGRATED HEALTH STRATEGY IN BORDER COLONIAS OF TEXAS

The U.S.-Mexico Border Office has significantly contributed since 2009 to the development of integrated social processes, to reduce the health risks in the most threatened and vulnerable border Colonias in Texas.  It has helped strengthening the inter-institutional collaboration among Texas state government agencies as prioritized in Senate Bill 827 (SB 827) of the 79th Regular Legislative Session of the State of Texas of Sept. 1, 2005, and developing integrated community action plans for two border Colonias that lack basic living necessities. Major efforts include:

• Collaboration with EPA, COCEF, and others - the U.S. - Mexico Border Office facilitated the development of a bi-national academic technical advisory group in environmental health to support the U.S. - Mexico Environmental Program: Border 2012, coordinated by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the Secretaría de Medio Ambiente y Recursos Naturales of Mexico. With PAHO’s support, the group developed and started implementing an action plan to strengthen the environmental health technical capacity of the Border Environmental Cooperation Commission and other related activities.

• Disasters/Safe Hospitals - The PAHO/WHO U.S. - Mexico Border Office, in collaboration with local health authorities, organized two workshops to discuss hospital plan preparedness and response models, by applying the methodology, contents and supplied working equipment, in Tijuana (Baja California Norte) and Ciudad Juárez (Chihuahua).

• The Center of Excellence (COE) for the Prevention of Chronic Diseases on the Border launched activities on World Health Day, April 7, with a walk from the Colegio de Sonora to the Municipality in Hermosillo, Sonora.  The COE is part of a global network of centers with funding from United Health Chronic Disease Initiative and NHLBI to further the prevention of chronic diseases.

• Prevention and control of syphilis and congenital syphilis among high risk populations in Ciudad Juarez, Chihuahua, México - As a result of this effort, a binational effort has been made under the initiative of the State of Texas to reach a binational agreement to have a permanent collaboration between Texas and Chihuahua.  This effort not only serves pregnant women through prenatal care services, but also fosters outreach work to serve indigenous populations and commercial sex workers who otherwise may have been left aside with no access to medical care.

• Violence and injury prevention - The Observatory for Safety and Peaceful Co-existence in Ciudad Juarez, Chihuahua, Mexico continues to be an extraordinary experience of collaboration among many academic, private and public sectors to deal with violence and injury prevention.  Violence along the Border continues to escalate; in 2009 more than 2,600 homicides were recorded in Ciudad Juarez. The PAHO/WHO Border Office continues to provide leadership in consolidating the information gathering and analysis process, building capacity among local stakeholders, building evidence to inform public policies and implementation of critical strategies. The data reported is available on the website http://www.observatoriodejuarez.org, which provides information and recommendations for public policies, environmental changes, strategies and programs to prevent violence and injuries in Ciudad Juarez. In March 2010 the PAHO/WHO Border Office submitted and was approved a grant from USAID for violence and injury prevention, to strengthen the Observatory, as well as mental health services in Ciudad Juarez and the development of the U.S. – Mexico Border Observatory Network.

• U.S-Mexico Border Virtual Health Library (Border VHL) - Officially launched in August 2006, this initiative is based on the need to improve the health conditions of the communities in the U.S.-Mexico frontier, through the exchange of scientific and technical information and knowledge generated by academic and service institutions and by researchers living in border. To learn more about the Border VHL Initiative or to search for border health/public health information, visit http://www.infofrontera.org

• Research & Public Policy - Evidence Informed Policy Network (EVIPNet) - In combination with the Border VHL, we are working on the inclusion of the Border Region researchers and policy-makers to the EVIPNet, an Americas region wide initiative, to aid in the establishment of the Border Health Research Agenda and to improve health and reduce health inequities by increasing decision and policy-makers access to, and use of, high quality evidence.

-- Maria Teresa Cerqueira, PhD, Chief, U.S.- Mexico Border Office, PAHO/WHO, El Paso, Texas,  cerqueim@fep.paho.org

--Josefa Ippolito-Shepherd, PhD, Public Health Scientist, ippolitoshepherdj@yahoo.com