U.S. – Mexico Collaboration >> CDC - IRPB Update - TB Notes 4, 2011

CDC - IRPB Update - TB Notes 4, 2011
http://www.cdc.gov/tb/publications/newsletters/notes/TBN_4_11/images/tbn411.pdf

U.S. – Mexico Collaboration

A U.S.– Mexico TB summit was held in June 2010 with participation from both countries and other organizations including CDC, the U.S. Dept. of Health and Human Services, the State Department, and nongovernmental organizations (NGOs). This summit helped to identify research and programmatic needs and integrate work that has been done in the area of TB between the two countries and the 10 associated U.S. and Mexico border states. As a result, a memorandum of understanding (MOU) between CDC/DTBE and Mexico is under development to establish regular communication, cooperation, and technical assistance between both countries in the area of TB. Some of the areas of action in the MOU include 1) working jointly to improve care for migrant TB patients, 2) detection of TB in legal and undocumented migrants, 3) referral and counter-referral systems between both countries, and 4) the elimination of barriers to continuation and completion of TB retreatment without regard to legal status. The second U.S.–Mexico TB summit was planned for 2011 to follow up on the action items from the 2010 summit.

CDC/DTBE worked in collaboration with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) to organize a U.S. Government (USG) transnational TB case management meeting, which was held in April 2011. The meeting attendees discussed completion of treatment and notification of all patients with confirmed or suspected TB among ICE detainees from all facility types, including ICE servicing processing centers; contract detention facilities and local detention facilities that house ICE detainees through intergovernmental service agreements; and follow up after release from hospital, among other topics. The objectives for the meeting included the following:

1. Gain a unified understanding of the challenges and proposed solutions among USG agencies
2. Develop concrete interagency solutions to transnational TB control issues
3. Develop a proposal for a binational U.S.–Mexico meeting to address cross-border TB control issues

DTBE is also part of U.S. Binational Technical Workgroup that is improving collaboration in the area of all infectious diseases including TB, HIV, STD, dengue, and others. The group is working to draft a Binational Notifiable list and to develop communication pathway protocols.

All these ongoing interagency efforts and DTBE initiatives have been key to developing a DTBE strategy on TB among foreign-born persons on the U.S.–Mexico border.

—Reported by Germania Pinheiro
Div of TB Elimination