Public-consular Diplomacy that heals: The Binational Health Week program

It was mid-morning in a church in Minneapolis when Maria (not her real name) had her glucose checked as part of the Binational Health Week activities. She was in her mid-forties, and it was the first time she had done it. When the nurse saw the results, she immediately called the doctor. Maria´s sugar levels were sky-high, and she was referred to a local hospital. After three days, Maria was released from the hospital with a diabetes diagnosis. She was unaware of her illness, and her participation in the health fair might have saved her life.
 
This situation is a common occurrence during the yearly celebration of the Binational Health Week (BHW), which is organized by the government of Mexico, through its consular network in the United States, together with the Health Initiative of the Americas, and thousands of allies across the nation, including consular offices of other countries.
 
The program is an outstanding example of Mexico's public-consular diplomacy in the United States focused on preventive health. The BHW has reached millions of people in the 21 years since its creation. It has also promoted the establishment of multiple long-term partnerships, a defining element of 21st-century public diplomacy.
 
Preventive health care is an extraordinary consular assistance program offered by a few countries to its citizens abroad. The BHW was developed to meet the needs of the Mexican community in the United States, a country that has struggled to provide affordable health services to all its population.
 
Besides, the program has promoted a continuous dialogue between health authorities, organizations, and the consular network with immigrant communities. It also encouraged the creation of the Ventanilla de Salud, or Health Desk program, which will be reviewed in another post.
 
The beginning of the Binational Health Week.
 
Since the early 1990s, the Ministry of Health of Mexico has organized yearly multiple health weeks across the nation. During that decade, the Mexican population in the US grew rapidly due to the combination of various factors:

• High economic growth and low unemployment in the US.
• Increase border enforcement operations.
• Reunification of families in the US due to the regularization of 2 million Mexicans in the late 1990s.
• Difficulties of the Mexican economy.

 
A significant development was the growing number of Mexican women and children moving to the United States, thus demanding new services such as health and education. 
 
In California, a significant push for starting the BHW was the passage in 1994 of Proposition 187, “a ballot initiative proposed by anti-immigrant organizations, which restricted undocumented immigrants from the state’s public services, including access to public education and healthcare.” It never came into force but was a hard lesson for the Hispanic community as a whole, not just the Mexican undocumented population in the state.
 
In 2001, the then California-Mexico Health Initiative, now known as the Health Initiative of the Americas (HIA), and the government of Mexico agreed to organize health prevention activities in California in October; thus, the Binational Health Week was born. It started in seven counties, had 98 events and 115 participating agencies, and reached close to 19,000 people.
 
The collaboration between health authorities and related organizations with the consular network deepened through the years, evolving into strategic partnerships across the nation.
 
The evolution of the Binational Health Week,
 
From its humble beginnings in California, the BHW took off like a rocket. It rapidly expanded to other states and, by 2004, it became a national endeavor. The then newly created Institute of Mexican Abroad (IME) and its Advisory Council supported expanding its activities to all the consulates.
 
It was clear that access to health was an important issue, particularly for the new arrival, which comprises a large percentage of women and children, as they reunited with their families in the US due to the end of circular migration of mostly male migrants.
 
Two critical elements of the BHW stand out, which were necessary for its success. One was that opening and closing ceremonies took place alternatively in Mexico and the US, thus making it a genuinely bilateral collaboration.
 
The second element was that it included research activities focused on Hispanic and Mexican health through the celebration of the Binational Public Policy Forum on Migration and Health. The collaboration evolved into a partnership called Research Programs on Migration and Health (PIMSA for its Spanish acronym) that has published significant findings on the subject. Also, since 2008, Mexico´s National Population Council and the HIA have published the Migration and Health reports.
 
The government of Mexico allocated money as seed funding for the organization of the BHW activities. It also invested much time and human capital in the organization, thus demonstrating its commitment to promote preventive health activities.
 
In the beginning, the activities of the BHW concentrated on health fairs. Still, as the program evolved, the organizers incorporated many other services and activities with the support of the Health Desks. For example, according to the 2018 BHW report, 45% of the events were health fairs while 26% were informative sessions, 15% training, and workshops, and 6% conferences and forums. Regarding services, 33% were guidances, 22% screenings, 19% services referrals, 12% medical examinations, and 9% diagnoses.
 
The results of the Binational Health Week.
 
In the 20 years since its creation, 6.9 million people have attended an activity in the framework of the BHW. Nearly 90,000 agencies have participated in more than 40,000 events and activities (see table 1).

---

 
Besides, the program has been very successful, from lead testing to national events and research projects. For example, from 2003 to 2018, PIMSA sponsored 116 binational research teams and 46 graduate students investing 4.4 million dollars plus over $5 million in additional funding.
 
As mentioned before, it was in the framework of the BHW that the Ventanilla de Salud or Health Desk was developed, being another successful effort of Mexico's public-consular diplomacy.
 
The collaboration between health authorities and related organizations with the consular network deepened through the years, evolving into strategic partnerships across the nation.
 
Working at the Consulate of Mexico in Boston, I had to coordinate the celebration of the first Hispanic health fair in Nashua, New Hampshire, as part of the BHW activities. It was not an easy task, but once the local health authorities understood the idea behind the program, they were thoroughly committed. And it opened the door to more significant interactions between the Mexican community and the city´s residents and authorities.
 
In conclusion, the Binational Health Week is an excellent example of Mexico´s public-consular diplomacy efforts that have benefited close to 7 million people since its creation in 2001 while establishing enduring partnerships.
 
 
​DISCLAIMER: All views expressed on this blog are that of the author and do not represent the opinions of any other authority, agency, organization, employer or company.

The people of every nation have the right to decide their government, self-determination, and non-intervention. The borders of states must be respected. #StandwithUkraine.