2016 Collaborative Agreement
The 2016 collaborative agreement identifies areas of collaboration between the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ U.S.-México Border Health Commission (BHC), U.S. Section, with particular focus on fulfilling and strengthening each organization’s strategic frameworks along the U.S.-México border, including EPA’s Border 2020 Program and the BHC’s Healthy Border 2020 initiative. The goal of this collaborative agreement is to advance efforts that address the important relationship between the environment and public health. See agreement below.
EPA and its U.S. and Mexican partners have developed the Border 2020 Environmental Program, a binational partnership designed to improve the environment and public health along the U.S.-México border. It includes five goals and fundamental strategies to improve children’s health and promote environmental health through capacity building, community-based programs, partnerships, and reducing exposures to chemicals, heavy metals, pesticides and asthma triggers.
Similarly, the BHC’s Healthy Border 2020 program addresses public health issues prevalent among binational border populations by providing the necessary leadership to develop coordinated and binational actions including chronic diseases, research and data collection, access to care, and strategic planning. The program establishes the commission’s border regional agenda on health promotion and disease prevention and comprises measurable and binational relevant goals and objectives that bring together key regional partners to develop and support policy change and culturally appropriate, evidence-based interventions.
Past Collaborative Agreements and Accomplishments Report
Since 2011, EPA and the BHC have worked to identify joint priorities and possible areas of collaboration. The prior collaborative agreement was officially adopted by EPA and the U.S. Section of the BHC in August of 2014. Key actions within the agreement include intra-agency collaboration during Border Binational Health Week (BBHW) each October, a State of the Border Environmental Health Report (to document status and trends), collaborative support for the drafting of a new Healthy Border 2020 Program within the Border Health Commission, and the development of a Pediatric Environmental Health Specialty Unit along the border. An accomplishments report is provided below that highlights successes that were achieved under previous agreement. The prior agreement is provided below as reference.
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