Blanca Valadez
Mexico City / 23.10.2024 14:16:50
Mexico, the United States and Canada published the North American Animal and Human Pandemic Preparedness Initiative (NAPAHPI), with which they will coordinately address the challenges posed by certain health threats. public, as happened with covid-19.
This is a new initiative that replaces the 2012 North American Plan for Animal and Pandemic Influenza (NAPAPI).
The Secretary of Health, David Kershenobich, explained that “this new collaboration framework between Mexico, Canada and the United States for pandemic preparedness in animals and humans is an example of the close cooperation that exists between the three countries.
“Not only will it allow us to work on One Health challenges and adopt new technologies and practices in the North American region, but it will serve to advance a common vision of surveillance and early identification of risk factors, planning and implementation of responses supportive and sustainable in situations of health emergencies. This trinational effort will translate into more efficient protection strategies for our populations,” he explained.
The three countries agreed to strengthen North American public health preparedness with a coordinated approach across multiple sectors in areas such as:
- Animal diseases with zoonotic potential.
- Epidemiological surveillance and laboratory diagnosis.
- Preventive and therapeutic measures.
- Public health measures.
- Supply chains of medical supplies.
- Health systems.
- Risk communication.
- Border health measures.
- Critical infrastructure.
- Risk assessment and analysis.
- Joint exercises and training, and
- Sustainable financing.
NAPAHPI will help improve North American collaboration and joint capacity to mitigate, prepare for, respond to, and recover from events that pose a threat to public health.
The NAPAHPI initiative builds on trilateral and cross-sector collaboration on pandemic influenza through its previous versions (the 2007 North American Plan for Avian and Pandemic Influenza, and the North American Plan for Animal and Pandemic Influenza 2012).
For almost two decades, the three partner countries have met periodically to discuss preparedness and response to public health threats such as MERS-CoV, Ebola, Zika, the Fukushima nuclear disaster and the Covid-19 pandemic.
NAPAHPI will be led by a Higher Coordination Body as a key decision-making forum and a health security working group as its technical arm, with members from the human health, animal health, agriculture, security and relations sectors. exteriors.
The main agencies in the governance structure will be in Mexico, through the ministries of Health and Agriculture and Rural Development, as well as those of Security and Citizen Protection and Foreign Affairs.
In Canada it will be the Public Health Agency of Canada, Food Inspection Agency, Public Safety and Global Affairs.
In the United States, it will correspond to the Department of Health and Human Services, the Department of Agriculture, the Department of Homeland Security and the Department of State.
Regarding the agreement, the Minister of Health, Mark Holland, said that “Canada, the United States and Mexico have a long friendship and history of collaboration.
“The North American Animal and Human Pandemic Preparedness Initiative demonstrates what can be achieved when our three countries work together on a common vision. “Through more effective coordination and collaboration, we can identify and implement actions that seek to protect the health and safety of our populations, while minimizing economic and social impacts,” he noted.
Meanwhile, the Secretary of Health and Human Services, Xavier Becerra, said that “the United States is committed to strengthening health security and preparing for future threats. To be successful we must coordinate closely across governments, as well as with industry and community leaders, which is what this platform makes possible.
“Our nations cannot be strong if they are not healthy. That is why we will continue working together on a sustained and lasting strategy that improves health security for all,” he noted.
The new NAPAHPI, they agreed, is based on the lessons learned from the covid-19 pandemic, the recommendations presented by the three countries and the commitments made at the 2021 and 2023 North American Leaders Summit.
“This 2024 initiative goes beyond influenza (the focus of its predecessor) to encompass a broader range of public health threats. Furthermore, it adopts the One Health approach that takes into account the interdependencies between the health of humans, animals and the environment,” according to a statement issued by the Ministry of Health.
LP
