Health Risks

Health issues along the border are becoming a serious problem with the steady increase in population and lack of medical resources. The U.S./Mexico border desperately needs some leadership, especially in the field of health care. Authorities on the border are far more concerned with legalizing the situation, rather than helping the people in need. Our government must create and implement a disease prevention program in the border area. With a coordinated system, we could then use advanced technology to gather health-related data and consistently monitor health problems, or common patterns.

Authorities must properly research and identify the health risks fairly quickly, so we can stop the pattern as soon as possible. If we could monitor health problems on the border, we could save lives. Technology can be fairly expensive, but if public and private entities came together, a sufficient disease prevention plan could be a reality. The purpose of the system would clearly be resolving health problems, but the long-term goal would be preventing them altogether.

The lack of resources on the border is consistently a problem residents and immigrants must deal with. For example, there is barely enough drinkable water, which makes people more vulnerable to becoming sick. There is constantly a need for more health professionals that have the ability to monitor health activities along the border. In general, people feel unsafe at the border because of the overwhelming lack or resources and the brutal abuse by authorities.

Another health concern is diseases being carried and transmitted by people who are unaware they have the disease, and then crossing over to the United States. Now, the disease is not contained, and if airborne, thousands of people could potentially be in danger. It is imperative to keep the diseases contained, preventing the spread of deadly bacteria. With the inconsistent treatment along the border, the spread of disease remains a very serious issue. According to "America's Program" website, Hepatitis A, B, and C, measles, and mumps also occur more frequently along the border than in many other regions. We must act now and try to save life.

Links:

*Center for Disease Control and Prevention (http://www.cdc.gov/)

*Office of Disease Prevention and Health Promotion (http://odphp.osophs.dhhs.gov/)

*Healthful Life Project (http://healthfullife.umdnj.edu/)