U.S., Mexico working together on disease surveillance system

McALLEN — The United States and Mexico are making “significant” progress developing a shared system to better track diseases that affect both countries, the nations’ top health officials said Tuesday.

U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Mike Leavitt and Mexican Health Secretary Jose Angel Cordova Villalobos spoke at the annual meeting of the United States-Mexico Border Health Commission in McAllen, saying they were committed to further cooperation on border health issues.

The two secretaries signed an agreement to work together on public health concerns like tuberculosis surveillance and disaster preparedness.

“We have very good collaboration and momentum, and they need to be built upon,” Leavitt said.

One major initiative the commission is helping to develop is an “early warning infectious disease surveillance” program, officials said. Since 2004, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services has awarded more than $5 million per year to states bordering Canada and Mexico so they can better track diseases that flourish along the border, like tuberculosis and dengue.

With those funds, officials now are building containment laboratories in Mexico’s border states and developing a data-exchange system with the United States. The steps will help the two countries better exchange information, contain dangerous diseases, identify outbreaks more quickly and keep tabs on cases, officials said.

The two countries should have a data-exchange plan in place by next year, said Craig Vanderwagen, HHS assistant secretary for preparedness and response.

“(The program) is a major step forward in enhancing our bi-national awareness,” Vanderwagen said.

But the implementation of the disease-surveillance program has had some rough spots.

Leavitt said he has heard complaints from Mexican officials about “red tape” slowing down the process of sending laboratory samples to the United States or getting tuberculosis medicines to Mexico.

“There might be bureaucratic snags on the U.S. side,” Leavitt acknowledged.

U.S. officials are looking at ways to minimize bureaucracy in transporting samples and medications, he said.

Also Tuesday, Leavitt and Andrew von Eschenbach, commissioner of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, met with Mexican officials to talk about import safety. After last year’s massive recall of toys, pet food and other items imported from China because of safety and health concerns, U.S. officials wanted to address product-safety concerns with Mexico and other countries, Leavitt said.

“Those incidents … have become symbols of a bigger problem we need to get at,” he said. “We’re anxious to see the commission work to add that to our larger dialogue.”

Collaboration is the best way to address these issues, said Dr. Jorge A. Duron Martinez, undersecretary of health regulation and development for the state of Coahuila in Mexico.

“We all have the same problems … so we all have to continue working together,” Duron said.

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Melissa McEver covers health and environment issues for Valley Freedom Newspapers. She is based in Harlingen and you can reach her at (956) 430-6252.