| |
BORDER HEALTH
Health care challenges are prevalent among persons living
along the 2,000 mile-long U.S.-Mexico border region, stretching
from San Ysidro, California, to Brownsville, Texas, and
extending 62 miles north and south of the border. The U.S.
side of
the border area consists of 48 counties in four States.
More than a third of U.S. border families live at or below
the
poverty line. The Health Resources and Services Administration
(HRSA) addresses border health issues through investments
in primary health care, maternal and child health services,
HIV/AIDS prevention and treatment, and programs to train
and place health professionals where needed most. HRSA
has created a Division of Border Health to work with the
U.S.-Mexico
Border Health Commission, the Secretaria de Salud, Mexico,
and the Pan American Health Organization Field Office.
A
health issue of particular concern in the border region
is the high rate of teen births. In 1999, females aged
15-19 in the border region had 64.8 births per 1,000
females of
this age group, as compared to a rate of 49.6 nationally.
In the Texas border region, the rate of births among
females aged 15-19 was 82.1 per 1,000 females of this age.
HRSA's
prenatal care and promotora outreach programs foster
the use of early prenatal care, father involvement, and
proper
nutrition.
 [d] |
