Overview of the binational health care system in the US and Mexico

The Health Initiative of the Americas, formerly know as the California-Mexico Health Initiative, was created in January 2001 under the auspices of the California Policy Research Center of the University of California, Office of the President. It is a collaborative effort involving government, academia, the private sector and community-based organizations of both countries.

The Initiative's objective is to coordinate and optimize the availability of health resources for Mexican immigrants and their families through bilateral training, research, and health promotion activities. It facilitates the development of complementary and coordinated projects involving key stakeholders in Mexico and the United States. The Initiative's first efforts have focused on Mexican states with the highest international mobility and California counties with high proportions of immigrant populations. HIA activities involve three main areas:

.Development and implementation of bilateral agreements and cooperative projects to achieve the best use of existing resources and to establish new initiatives;

.Health promotion and education projects, including binational health campaigns, publications, and dissemination of culturally sensitive health-related materials;

.Training of health professionals, including doctors, nurses, medical students, clinic administrators, and outreach workers, focusing on the specific health needs of the Mexican origin population;

This presentation will provide describe how the bilateral agreements, the health promotion and education projects, and the training of health professionals are serving the health care needs of Latin American immigrants working and living in the US.