On the first day of the 6th Annual Border Binational Health Week, a parade of walkers in white T-shirts strode from Pierson Vocational High School to the Quality Inn (formerly known as the Americana).

Clara Ayon of Rio Rico wins a fleece blanket in a raffle following the Caminata por la Salud. She then announces she will donate the blanket to the hurricane relief effort in Guaymas, Mexico. Photo / Denise Holley

Sixty walkers from Nogales, Sonora, joined 50 U.S. participants in the Caminata por la Salud (Health Walk) on Monday. They were determined to improve their health, said

George De La Riva, community coordinator at Mariposa Community Health Center (MCHC).

The U.S. and Mexican health representatives who greeted the walkers applauded their efforts and pledged to promote such cross-border initiatives. This year, the health week ran from Oct. 3 until today, with the theme “Preventing Obesity and Diabetes.”

MCHC, one of the sponsors, offered a six-week course in chronic disease management at the Hospital General in Nogales, Sonora, said Carmen Ferlan, curriculum development and training specialist. It was for people living with diabetes, high blood pressure and lupus. About 50 people completed the program, and those who walked to the Quality Inn received their certificates.

MCHC will resume its Spanish health classes in Nogales, Ariz., in January, said Rosi Piper, health promotion manager. The course “Tomando Control de su Salud” (“Taking Control of Your Health”) is for people 55 and older.

Events continued on Tuesday with a health fair at Karam Park and a conference on Thursday at the Quality Inn, titled “Living Well with Diabetes Care and Prevention Conference” for patients and their families.

Border Binational Health Week was sponsored by the U.S.-Mexico Border Health Commission, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, the Mexico Secretariat of Health, the Health Initiative of the Americas, the Pan-American Health Organization and the 10 U.S. and Mexican border states.