Five Northern California Counties To Offer Health Clinics Geared Toward Latinos

Five Northern California counties will hold bilingual health clinics starting Saturday in an effort to promote healthier living among Mexican immigrants, the Sacramento Bee reports. The effort is part of Binational Health Week, a cooperative campaign by the Mexican and California governments.

Binational Health Week began with vaccination campaigns in Mexico, and the event expanded to California in 2001. The campaign is sponsored by the Department of Health Services, the University of California, the California Endowment, US Bank and Kaiser Permanente.

The new clinics in Northern California will be held in Sacramento, Yolo, San Joaquin, Stanislaus and Tehama counties. A total of 14 health fairs will be held at 12 sites, with more than 70 agencies providing services and information. The clinics will offer free screenings for high blood pressure, diabetes and other diseases. In addition, some clinics will provide dental exams and cholesterol tests.

Although the clinics seek to promote healthy lifestyles among Mexican immigrants, they are open to everyone, the Bee reports (Sanchez, Sacramento Bee, 10/5).

Santa Clara County "has a vested interest in the success" of efforts to improve the health of Latino immigrants, because "prevention and early detection and treatment" of diseases "could save the county millions of dollars in costly hospital treatment and rehabilitation programs," a San Jose Mercury News editorial states.

According to the editorial, "Budget cuts at all levels have decimated preventive medicine efforts in recent years," making the partnership between the county health departments and Mexican organizations "an important safety net for our Latino immigrant residents" (San Jose Mercury News, 10/7).