Copresidentes Nuevo León Dr. Gilberto Montiel Amoroso Secretario de Salud Secretaría de Salud
Tel: (81) 8130-7000 gmontiel@ssnl.gob.mx
Dr. Sergio Galán Guajardo Director de Planeación de los Servicios de Salud de NL Secretaría de Salud
Tel: (81) 8130-7000 s.galan@ssnl.gob.mx
California Mark B. Horton, MD Secretary
California Department of Public Health
Tel. (916) 558-1700 Fax (916) 558-1762 mark.horton@cdph.ca.gov
Mauricio E. Leiva, M. Ed. Chief of the Office of Binational Border Health
California Department of Public Health
Tel. (916) 327-7744 mauricio.leiva@cdph.ca.gov
Health
The Health Worktable, in partnership with the federal governments and the private sector, works to protect and improve the health of border communities, supporting the efforts of the United States-Mexico Border Health Commission. The Health Worktable currently is taking action to:
• Request that the 10 Border States be included in the implementation of the recently signed “Declaration Among the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) of the United States of America, the Department of Health of Canada, the Public Health Agency of Canada, and the Ministry of Health of the United Mexican States.” The health departments commit to developing cross-border protocols for coordination and communication during epidemiological events of mutual interest under the provisions of the Guidelines for United States-Mexico Coordination on Epidemiologic Events of Mutual Interest and be prepared to present them at the 2009 United States-Mexico Border Governors Conference. That the United States Department of Health and Human Services approve and implement the Guidelines for United States-Mexico Coordination on Epidemiologic Events of Mutual Interest and that they serve as the foundation for advancing bi-national coordination under the Security and Prosperity Partnership of North America public health initiatives.
• That the United States-Mexico Border Health Commission, in coordination with the Pan American Health Organization United States-Mexico Border Field Office, develop a report that addresses the bi-national problem related to the increase in the number of tuberculosis (TB) cases along the border, including drug-resistant TB, and identifies means to increase financial resources for TB control activities in the United States-Mexico border region, specifically in Mexico to improve laboratory and surveillance capacity and to the northern border states to offset the cost of providing TB care to non-residents of the border states, and specifically in to the United States to provide increased funding for the border state and county health departments to offset the cost of providing TB care to non-United States citizens and management of bi-national TB cases in coordination with Mexican State health authorities.
• Support and strengthen the initiative for the creation of the Unit for Epidemiological Intelligence and Public Health Emergencies as a center that monitors risks and damages to public health for an early-stage bi-national alert, which would initially operate in the Mexican border states and, subsequently, based on agreements and the definition of protocols, would include epidemiological monitoring activities in the 10 United States-Mexico border states, and support and strengthen the development and implementation of the initiative to use Tele-Health technology as a tool that has great potential for standardizing capacity in health services and available human resources, as well as those in training, in the United States-Mexico border states.
• Request that the United States Mexico Border Health Commission, in coordination with the Pan American Health Organization/United States Mexico Border Field Office, proclaim the issue of Obesity and Diabetes a priority and the theme of the 2009 Border Health Binational Health Week (BBHW) and request that the federal governments of both nations provide funding to launch a culturally and linguistically appropriate year-long bi-national multimedia education and awareness campaign during the BBHW aimed especially at children and youth.
