By Dr. Alfredo Vigil
Secretary, Department of Health
The Legislature recently confirmed my appointment as health secretary, and I am so pleased to serve you in this important role. A dozen legislators, some in your communities, did not support my appointment because they were concerned about the Department of Health's recent decision against applying next year for federal abstinence-only money.
I would like to explain that decision and why the Department of Health wants to partner with every community to help our adolescents make healthy decisions and lead healthy lives.
We believe abstinence education is important for our young people. We also believe we need to give scientific and complete information about how to protect against unintended pregnancies and sexually transmitted diseases. Federal funding for abstinence-only programs did not allow us to give complete information or coordinate our other efforts to reduce teenage births.
We have a variety of programs that aim to increase male responsibility, involve teenagers in community service and learning, and encourage open discussions about sexuality between parents and teenagers. We also realize what works in Albuquerque might not work in Hobbs. We will support the choices communities make about how to help their young people become healthy adults.
One way we provide access to health services is through our school-based health centers located in every county of the state. Through these centers, we provide free primary and behavioral health-care services, including immunizations, sports physicals, well-child visits, reproductive health services, and substance abuse and mental health screenings. In every school, we provide the services that the local school board approves.
Our school-based health centers partner with local primary care centers, public health offices, community mental health agencies, school administrations and private providers. These partnerships are critical to the overall support of the centers. Another key partnership is with parents. We always try to involve parents in their children's health-care decisions.
The service our school-based health centers provide is one way we are fulfilling our commitment to helping students make healthy decisions and increasing their access to clinical reproductive health services.
However, the Department of Health can't do it alone. We need our communities, parents, churches and community leaders to work with us on key strategies that can strengthen our families in New Mexico.
Strategies include: Parents, families and churches must work together to establish a solid base of moral and ethical beliefs in our children. All of us must do everything possible to help our young people develop strong self-esteem. A key ingredient in this area is one-on-one mentoring of children and adolescents by adults.
Complete and accurate education on all aspects of physical and behavioral health is essential. Young people need age-appropriate access to health services. School-based health centers that offer the full range of interventions for high-risk behaviors are critical to this goal.
The good news is that we have the formula for making families stronger. As individuals, families and communities, we can instill moral values and provide adult mentoring, complete and accurate education and access to health-care services.
By providing that kind of support, our young people can be better prepared to face life's challenges and become healthy adults.
opinion 
...go to bookmarks
E-mail Story
Print Friendly
