About Us
HIA Program DescriptionThe 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;
Through funding from the University of California, The California Endowment (TCE), the California HealthCare Foundation, and The California Wellness Foundation, HIA has completed five successful years of operation, with achievements including the organization of annual Binational Health Week events, the development of a binational epidemiological surveillance system pilot project, the release of a special call for research proposals on migration and health, and the coordination of training for health care professionals and medical students.
Binational Health Week
This year, the Ninth BHW will take place October 3-15, 2009 in 40 states in the U.S. and 3 provinces in Canada, with the participation of the consular networks of Mexico, Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras, Colombia, Ecuador and Peru. Additionally, during BHW five national campaigns will be implemented to promote awareness among the underserved Latino community on H1N1 Influenza, Prevention of Addictions, Nutrition, Prevention of Strokes, and Living Green.
More information about BHW events