May Edition of CDPH's Office of Health Equity Newsletter - Partner Spotlight: Office of Binational Border Health

Upon reading the May edition of the Office of Health Equity Newsletter, I found this article of interest.  To learn more about OHE visit here: https://www.cdph.ca.gov/Progra...iceHealthEquity.aspx

Partner Spotlight: Office of Binational Border Health

 The California-Baja California border region is the busiest in the world with over 100,000,000 crossings per year.  Individuals living in the region cross for various reasons including employment, recreation, family and healthcare and from a public health perspective, the border cities are considered one region with a shared environment and population. The California Department of Public Health includes the Office of Binational Border Health (OBBH), which was established in 2000 through Assembly Bill 63 (Ducheny) with a mission to protect and improve the health of California communities by facilitating communication, coordination, and collaboration among California and Mexico health officials and health professionals, while working closely with communities on both sides of the border.  OBBH border health programs focus on border and binational communities throughout California and Baja California by sustaining partnerships and enhancing communications between state and federal officials in California and Mexico.

The 2015 Annual Border Health Status Report to the Legislature presents important health indicators for border and binational communities in California and describes the border region experiences in terms of public health challenges and issues that are distinctive to the region. Health issues that impact the region's 3.5 million residents are important to California statewide. Significant geographic and ethnic disparities exist for each of the health issues covered in this report including demographics, access to health care, obesity, diabetes, tuberculosis, HIV/AIDS, immunizations, and vaccine-preventable diseases.  This report is not exclusively for legislators but useful for researchers and policymakers throughout the State of California.  It is available on the new CDPH website.

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