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News Release

HHS to Fund Early Warning Disease Surveillance System Along the U.S.-Mexico Border

HHS Secretary Tommy G. Thompson today announced the release of $5.4 million in funds to the United States - Mexico Border Health Commission to enhance early warning capabilities to identify both naturally occurring infectious diseases and potential bio-terrorism. The announcement came during the commission's annual meeting in Saltillo, Mexico.

HHS will make the money available to six Mexican border states and to the Secretariat of Health of Mexico to aid existing efforts by the Mexican government and help create early warning infectious disease surveillance systems compatible among the four U.S. states and six Mexican states that share the border. Secretary Thompson announced the initiative in Saltillo, Mexico during the commission's annual meeting today.

"Disease and illness recognize no political boundaries and that's why it's imperative that our countries continue to work together to safeguard the health of those along both sides of the border," Secretary Thompson said. "Early warning surveillance and prompt sharing of findings is a public health and national security imperative for both our nations."

The program to be implemented over a three-year period is intended to focus on early detection, identification, and reporting of infectious diseases associated with both potential bio-terrorism agents and other major threats to public health. The commission will distribute the funds as determined jointly with the HHS and the Secretariat of Health of Mexico.

The funds may be applied to disease detection and reporting, epidemiological investigations and information technology, as well as education and training activities needed to develop an early warning infectious disease surveillance system.

HHS previously provided supplemental funds to enhance bi-national early warning infectious disease surveillance programs to the U.S. border states of California, Arizona, New Mexico and Texas through HHS' Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's bioterrorism preparedness cooperative agreements. These surveillance activities are part of a broader HHS program to strengthen public health preparedness for and response to bioterrorism, outbreaks of infectious diseases and other public health emergencies.

Also at the commission's annual meeting, Secretary Thompson and Mexico's Health Minister, Julio Jose Frenk Mora, signed a letter of intent to increase cooperation in drug abuse research programs and exchange materials and scientific professionals. The letter of intent recognizes the importance of cooperation in accomplishing common goals and interests and provides for the intent to work together to develop collaborations in the fields of biomedical and behavioral research related to drug abuse and addiction.

The agreement will build upon previous bi-national activities between the United States and Mexico and will be carried out through Mexico's National Council Against Addictions and the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA), part of HHS' National Institutes of Health.

The United States - Mexico Border Health Commission is headed by the federal secretaries of health in the U.S. and Mexico and includes the chief health officials and community health professionals from the 10 states on either side of the border. It operates in a bi-national manner, and strives to build consensus and partnerships among the border states to improve the health of border residents and enhance the health and quality of life on the border.

More information about the commission is available at www.borderhealth.org. For more information on NIDA and its international program, visit the Web site www.drugabuse.gov.

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

Last Revised: December 12, 2003