Binational Health Week (BHW) is one of the largest mobilization efforts of federal and state government agencies, community-based organizations and volunteers in the Americas to improve the health and well being of the underserved Latino population living in the United States. It encompasses an annual weeklong series of health promotion and health education activities that include workshops, insurance referrals, and medical screenings. BHW events emerge from networks forged among agencies and organizations working on migrant health issues and, in turn, foster ongoing collaboration. Main partners include the Secretariats of Health and of Foreign Affairs of Mexico, the Ministries of Foreign Affairs of Guatemala, Bolivia, Nicaragua, Honduras, Colombia, Ecuador and Peru, the Institute for Mexicans Abroad, the Mexican Social Security Institute, California’s Department of Public Health, The California Endowment, the California HealthCare Foundation, and the Health Initiative of the Americas, a program of the University of California in Berkeley, School of Public Health. BHW is intended as a first step in a larger program of cooperation amongst North American and Central American countries to improve the health and well being of immigrant workers and their families.

The fifteenth BHW will take place on  October 3-18, 2015 in the U.S. and Canada, with the participation of the consular networks of Mexico, Guatemala, Honduras, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru and Bolivia. The main topics are: Diabetes, Occupational Health, Vaccines and health Services. The inaugural event and Policy Forum on Migration and Health will be held on October 5th in the San Francisco Bay Area.

For more information, please visit our website:  http://binationalhealthweek.org/

Archives of Previous Binational Health Weeks: