Office of Border Health

Border Health Councils

The Binational Health Council is the community chapter of the United States-Mexico Border Health Association (USMBHA). There are 13 councils established in sister-city sub-regions from Brownsville-Matamoros in the east, to San Diego-Tijuana in the west. These councils carry out support activities for health programs on both sides of the border; established according to the Regulations of said Association and subject to its Guidelines.
                        
The objective of USMBHA’s Binational Health Councils is to identify binational border health problems, which are of specific interest and concern to the geographic sub-region of the Council, and analyze and prioritize needs and programs in order to implement strategies to solve those issues identified. Binational Health Councils encourage and motivate the active participation of their respective members and the agencies and organizations they represent, to promote the actions, recommendations and resolutions of the Association. The main functions of the Binational Health Councils are:    

• Identify common health problems in specific geographic areas of each Binational Council.      

• Develop and carry out activities agreed upon to solve problems that have been identified. 

• Evaluate the results of activities and actions carried out by the Binational Health Councils and the USMBHA in their areas of influence.   

• Submit recommendations to the Governing Council or the USMBHA Executive Committee. 

• Promote USMBHA’s activities and policies. 

• Prepare and submit proposals regarding the needs of the Binational Council sub-region to the USMBHA to receive the necessary support.         

• Coordinate and support USMBHA’s activities in the region of influence of the Binational Health Council.      

• Establish cultivate and promote the interest and reciprocal cooperation between public and private entities working in areas of public health and/or Mexican-American groups in the border community that are interested in participating, and directly or indirectly propose pertinent public health topics.  

• Promote reciprocal cooperation to solve local, regional and/or binational health problems.             

• Promote training and education for human resources and workforce development.   

• Promote and facilitate cooperation of diagnosis and treatment methods between and among public health services providers.