HHS Launches healthfinderŪ espaņol To Provide Spanish-Speaking Consumers With Easy Access To Reliable Health Information

HHS Secretary Tommy G. Thompson today announced the launch of healthfinderŪ espaņol, a Spanish-language Web site that helps consumers track down reliable health information quickly and easily on the Internet. Available at www.healthfinder.gov/espanol, the new site creates an easy-to-use Spanish-language consumer resource modeled after the award-winning healthfinderŪ site.

"HealthfinderŪ espaņol provides health information that people can trust. By providing this essential resource in Spanish, we're creating a gateway for Spanish-speaking people to learn about preventing and treating illness and developing a healthy lifestyle," Secretary Thompson said. "This is especially important now that half of all Hispanic adults in the United States are using the Internet."

HealthfinderŪ espaņol brings together in one easy-to-use site Spanish-language health information on over 300 topics from 70 government agencies and nonprofit organizations, including those health issues of greatest concern to those of Hispanic heritage. The site offers both a Spanish text search and a list of topics in Spanish that can be browsed.

A unique feature of healthfinderŪ espaņol is the ease with which users of the site can switch between Spanish and English versions of the same information. English-speaking family members or health professionals can use this feature to search in English for information to share with Spanish-speaking relatives or patients.

Deputy Secretary Claude Allen unveiled the new site today during Hispanic Heritage Month at the Mary's Center for Maternal and Child Care in Washington. HHS' Office of Disease Prevention and Health Promotion, which leads the healthfinderŪ project, worked with staff and clients at Mary's Center and others in the community to develop the new site's content and format.

"Hispanics are affected disproportionately by diabetes, high blood pressure and other serious health problems. HhealthfinderŪ espaņol can help address those disparities by making useful information about prevention and wellness readily available to Spanish speakers," Deputy Secretary Allen said.

"There are so few places that Latinos can go to get health information that they need in a private and friendly atmosphere," said Maria Gomez, executive director of Mary's Center. "We're excited to have healthfinderŪ espaņol available to our patients here at Mary's Center."

Regularly listed as a top site in media articles about Internet health information, healthfinderŪ has won many site awards, including USA TODAY's "Hot Site" award and Lycos' "Top 5% of the Web" award. Additionally, healthfinderŪ has been noted as "probably the quickest way to find Web-based information on a particular health condition," by Forbes and as "a terrific first stop" by Newsweek.

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Note: All HHS press releases, fact sheets and other press materials are available at www.hhs.gov/news.