About PAHO/WHO U.S.-Mexico Border Office

The Pan American Sanitary Bureau (PASB), the oldest international health agency in the world (created in 1902), is the Secretariat of the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) and it is the Regional Office of the World Health Organization (WHO) in the Americas. The Bureau is committed to providing technical support and leadership to PAHO Member States as they pursue their goal of Health for All and the values therein. The United States-Mexico Border Office (USMBO) facilitates border binational cooperation and builds alliances and consensus between federal, state, and local entities in order to guarantee PAHO’s values and accomplish its vision and mission at the border.

PAHO/WHO United States-Mexico Border Office (USMBO)

Established in 1942, it continues to facilitate and promote border collaboration with public and private binational institutions and entities involved in improving the health of the population at the Border. In an uninterrupted fashion, the Office has facilitated the process of collaboration within a context of impartiality, neutrality and ethics; developing community forums and transborder dialogue focused on the analysis of the health situation where alternatives for the solution of health and environmental problems can be discerned.

Given the multilateral character of PAHO/WHO, its United States-Mexico Border Office develops technical cooperation in close alliance with strategic institutions that also have a mandate across the border, such as the United States-Mexico Health Commission (USMBHC), the United States-Mexico Border Health Association (USMBHA), the Border Environment Cooperation Commission (BECC), the Conference of Border Governors, the Conference of Border Legislators, as well as other academic and research institutions and NGOs.