U.S. Ambassador to Mexico Ken Salazar holds a press conference in Mexico City, Mexico, October 17, 2024. REUTERS/Raquel Cunha
The United States ambassador to Mexico, Ken Salazarassured this Wednesday that North America, made up of Canada, United States and Mexicowas able to work together to prevent Covid-19 from further affecting the three nations, which further prepared them to be ready in the event of another possible health emergency of that magnitude.
“The three North American countries worked together before the arrival of COVID-19 to protect our nations and economies, thanks to the fact that we have mechanisms that allowed us to collaborate in a coordinated manner,” Salazar declared within the framework of the launch of the COVID-19 Preparedness Initiative. North America for Animal and Human Pandemics (NAPAHPI).
Salazar indicated that The experience of the COVID pandemic has been useful to be even more prepared and act together in the face of future pandemics: “Our countries launched the North American Animal and Human Pandemic Preparedness Initiative (NAPAHPI), which builds on those lessons learned and the 2012 North American Plan for Animal and Pandemic Influenza.”
This initiative, he noted, is even broader than previous efforts, as it considers various threats to public health, not just influenza, and adopts a One Health approach, considering the interdependencies between human, animal and environmental health.
The policies taken during the pandemic helped prepare nations to know how to act in the face of a health emergency Credit: Cuartoscuro
“With NAPAHPI, our three countries seek to strengthen public health preparedness in North America in a coordinated and multisectoral manner.”
He assured that it is North America’s time and that to consolidate our region as the most prosperous and competitive in the world, we also collaborate to protect the health of our nations and be prepared for future pandemics. “In this way, we also seek to protect the bright future that we build together.”
La NAPAHPI is a flexible, scalable and cross-sector platform to strengthen regional capacities for prevention, preparedness and response to a wide range of health security threats, based on lessons learned from COVID-19 and other health security events. in the last decade.
It is based on a long-standing trilateral collaboration within the framework of the North American Avian and Pandemic Influenza Plan 2007 and the North American Plan for Animal and Pandemic Influenza 2012. This initiative recognizes that the high degree of interconnectedness between our three countries in critical infrastructure, supply chains and societies means that disruptions that affect one country often impact others. Only by working together can we protect the health security of our region.
