California-Mexico Partnership Launches Week of Health Activities.

A historic partnership between the State of California and the government of Mexico was launched as officials from both sides of the border met to kick-off the first-ever Binational Health Week campaign. Officials also gathered in Los Angeles to sign a Memorandum of Understanding committing both governments to increased efforts to improve the health of the 3.2 million Mexicans living and working in California.

“Mexico is proud to launch this cooperative effort with California to improve the health of Mexicans everywhere,” said Dr. Julio Frenk Mora, Secretary of Health, Mexican Health Ministry.

“Today marks a new era of collaboration between the governments of California and Mexico, health foundations, community-based organizations and academia in addressing the unmet health needs of this long-forgotten population,” said Senate Majority Leader Richard G. Polanco. “Binational Health Week will be the first step in bringing much needed focus to the health problems faced by Mexicans living and working in this state.”

With activities planned to run between October 12 and October 19, Binational Health Week will include health promotion and preventive messages focused on several areas, including: cervical and breast cancer, immunizations, diabetes, nutrition and exercise, STDs/HIV, health insurance and work-related injuries. Activities will be held concurrently in seven California counties: Los Angeles, San Diego, Alameda, Fresno, Monterey, Sonoma and Imperial, as well as Mexican states.

“The level of partnership that has come together for Binational Health Week illustrates how important this effort is to those on both sides of the border,” said Robert K. Ross, M.D., president & chief executive officer of The California Endowment, one of the project’s supporters. The Endowment has committed $50 million over the next five years to improve the health of the state’s agricultural workers and sees a binational approach as an important solution.

“Since 1993, the Mexican Secretariat of Health has implemented a nationwide health week and immunization campaign three times a year throughout Mexico, which has helped Mexico to achieve a 98 percent immunization rate among its general population,” said Andres Jimenez, Director of the California Policy Research Center. “By replicating those efforts here in California, we hope to work toward similar success among Mexican immigrants living and working in California.”

The week will involve working partnerships among Mexican Secretariats of Health and Foreign Affairs, Mexico’s Presidential Office of Mexicans Abroad, U.S. border health organizations, the California Department of Health Services, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and numerous community-based organizations and county health agencies.

The events of Binational Health Week will culminate in a planned binational research forum on critical health issues, organized by the University of California in collaboration with Mexican academic institutions. The forum will link top researchers in both countries to assess the current state of research on health care access and set the agenda for future research in this area.

“Binational Health Week is a critical first step,” said Jimenez. “Through the health forum and continued efforts implemented by the many partners involved in Binational Health Week, we envision a sustained partnership between Californians and our Mexican counterparts to improve health conditions for all communities, particularly those with large immigrant populations.

Binational Health Week, which will occur each year, is one component of the California-Mexico Health Initiative, a program of the California Policy Research Center, University of California, Office of the President. The initiative is funded by The California Endowment, the California HealthCare Foundation and the State of California through a series of grants totaling $2.5 million.

The California-Mexico Health Initiative seeks to expand access to health services, improve health insurance coverage and reduce unmet health needs of all Mexicans living and working in California.