Mexican Consulate Donates Funding for Latino Health in AZ

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Latinos are the nation’s largest racial/ethnic minority group. They are expected to grow from 1 in 6 people today to 1 in 4 by 2035 and 1 in 3 by 2060. As their numbers continue to grow, the overall health of the Latino population is going to be vitally important to everyone in the United States.

While Latinos made great strides in obtaining health care since the implementation of the Affordable Care Act, they are still the largest uninsured population in the country and face numerous barriers and health inequities.

In the heavily Latino-populated city of Yuma, Arizona (58.07% Latino population) a new champion and partner has emerged with a goal of increasing Latino access to health care.

The Mexican Consulate of Arizona, based in Yuma, has donated over $35,000 in funds to the Campesinos sin Fronteras group to be used for free health screenings for Latinos.

Campesinos sin Fronteras is a nonprofit group based in Arizona that serves migrant farmworkers and the state’s large low-income Latino population. The money donated by the Consulate has been used for the Ventanillas de Salud (health windows) program, which offers mobile health clinic screenings.

The Ventanillas program goes into the Latino communities and to the places where the migrant farmers live and work eliminating the barrier of access that many face.

“I think the work of the Ventanillas is incredibly important,” said Campesinos Executive Director Emma Torres in an interview with KAWC News. “[Ventanillas] reaches out to those individuals who otherwise would go without any health care.  Because they don’t have health insurance or they don’t go to a doctor.”

Read other outreach efforts that are helping Latinos here:

• Coalition Forms to Get Access to Public Services for Latinos in SF. #SaludAmerica #SaludSupport http://salud.to/2u51ktu
• Nonprofit in Philadelphia is Building ‘Bridges to Health’ for Latinos. #SaludAmerica #SaluldSupport http://salud.to/2uPVkVu