[Avoidable mortality in the states adjacent to the Mexico-United States border; 1999-2001 and 2009-2011]

The scope of this article is to measure the effect of avoidable mortality in changes in life expectancy in the states adjacent to both sides of the US-Mexico border between 1999-2001 and 2009-2011. The data used were the records of mortality and population censuses from official sources in each country. Standardized mortality rates were estimated and the expected years of life lost were calculated. Both in 1999-2001 and in 2009-2011 the states belonging to the southern border of the United States had lower rates of avoidable mortality rates than those observed in the northern states of Mexico. In the border region avoidable deaths have seen an averageincrease of 0.19 years of life for America and a loss of 0.47 years of life for Mexico. The states of the US-Mexico border have common features in their health profiles that make it necessary to address some problemson a global basis and consider the particularities of each, in order to reduce gaps and enhance social equity through strategies involving independent national actions and othersby cross-border coordination.