Background

BACKGROUND

 
The Mexico-United States border is characterized by having an epidemiological profile that combines infectious and chronic-degenerative diseases, injuries, and traffic and occupational accidents. This occurs in everyday movement basis of its inhabitants in the transnational area that it’s part of said border. Since it is a region with several processes of interaction between individuals and institutions, whose scope goes beyond the border, requires the design and implementation of binational models of health service delivery and public policies.

The interaction and its dynamism at the border generate individual health dynamics, even if there are differences between the two countries regarding migration policies of health and social and economic development. Despite having common problems, Public Health policies do not correspond nor respond to the complexity of the Border Health. In border and binational contexts, this interaction that includes countries, states, cultures and communities, the health of individuals and groups, becomes more important.

While there is no clear definition of Border Health, mainly due to the political, economic, social, environmental, epidemiological and cultural complexity of the region, it is known that in the field of health the border presents particular situations which favor that certain health problems are higher than in the rest of both countries: changes in diet, decreased physical activity, early onset of sexual activity, substance abuse, environmental conditions, presence of vulnerable groups such as indigenous people and migrants in transit, among others.