Red Tape, Catch-22s Impede Progress in Texas’ Colonias

HARLINGEN — Ask many of the officials charged with improving conditions in Texas’ colonias about their progress and receive a string of pre-packaged responses: about how generous state and federal budget writers have been, how wisely money has been spent, and how cooperatively they have worked together to aid the more than 2,300 impoverished villages on this side of the Mexican border. “I don’t want to be bragging, but the fact that we have several state agencies that have programs…

Borders, Budgets, and the Rising Risk of Disease

Is there a perfect storm brewing along our nation’s southern border? Let’s take a look at the numbers in El Paso, Texas where I recently visited: •There are 27 million crossings per year alone at the El Paso Point of Entry (POE) •Cuts to federal funding including a 50% reduction in the Early Warning Infectious Disease Program as well as 12.5% cuts to critical preparedness and response funding; • Texas is second in the nation for number of tuberculosis cases,…

Conditions, Health Risks Sicken Colonias Residents

PHARR — Laura knows what comfort feels like: Before leaving Reynosa, Mexico, for Texas a few years ago, she lived with her in-laws in a house with bedrooms and flushing toilets, with electricity and a leak-free roof. Now, the 23-year-old — since deserted by her husband — pays $187 a month to live in a dirt-floored shack that is part broken-down motor home, part splintered plywood shed. She bathes her five runny-nosed, half-clothed children, all under 10, with water siphoned…

A glimmer of a path to an AIDS vaccine

In the 3-D model on the computer screen, the AIDS virus resembles a deformed head of broccoli, its clustered surface constantly shifting. Researchers at the National Institutes of Health’s Vaccine Research Center attribute moral characteristics to their enemy; it is “deceptive” and “diabolical.” The virus is covered in a cloak of sugars that mimic natural proteins, making it invisible to the immune system. Its true nature is only revealed to the body when the virus needs to get into a…

Tijuana’s Success In Tuberculosis Treatment Benefits San Diego

Tijuana — A young woman walked into Tijuana’s tuberculosis clinic with a little plastic jar in her hand containing her saliva sample. She dropped it off at the front desk, and left. She didn’t need to see Dr. Rafael Laniado this time, because she had been taking her meds and her tuberculosis had been under control for months. “When you visit this clinic, I can tell you if you have tuberculosis within three weeks,” said Laniado, the chief neumologist at…