Pandemics are not territorial, which is the reason the U.S., Canada, and Mexico have adopted a set of principles and guidelines on how the 3 governments will share information during health emergencies “of mutual interest,” according to HHS. At the 67th World Health Assembly in Geneva, Switzerland, on May 20, 2014, HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius, Canada’s Minister of Health Rona Ambrose, and Mexico’s Secretary of Health Mercedes Juan signed a Declaration of Intent, formally adopting the guidelines.
The declaration calls for the countries to share public communications plans, statements, and other communications products related to health emergencies prior to public release and to apprise other appropriate authorities within their respective governments when the declaration is invoked. “This declaration will help our countries work together on the essential task of communicating more effectively on public health issues,” said Minister Ambrose.
The agreement supports the requirements of the International Health Regulations, which call for neighboring countries to develop accords and work together on shared public health issues. It also supports the underlying principles of the 2012 North American Plan for Animal and Pandemic Influenza, which builds on lessons learned during the H1N1 influenza pandemic.
In a similar collaborative vein, the U.S. and European Union (EU) have joined to battle the complex, daunting concern of antimicrobial resistance. In May 2014, they released the first progress report of the Transatlantic Taskforce on Antimicrobial Resistance (TATFAR), which summarizes advances made during the first implementation period of 2011 to 2013.
The goal of TATFAR is to improve cooperation in 3 key areas. First, appropriate therapeutic use of antimicrobial drugs in medical and veterinary communities; second, prevention of health care- and community-associated drug-resistant infections; and third, strategies for improving the pipeline of new antimicrobial drugs.
This collaboration is detailed and multifaceted. For instance, the FDA and the European Medicines Agency (EMA) have staff assigned to work in the other agency, allowing “candid, rapid, and confidential exchange of information regarding practices and policies that affect product labeling and other regulatory issues,” the report says.
Because the global problem continues to escalate, the task force has been renewed for at least 2 more years. Work on the original TATFAR recommendations continues, along with 1 new recommendation: Establish a joint working group of experts to study the transmission to man of antimicrobial resistance from the use of antimicrobial drugs in animals.
Forthcoming projects include a report summarizing the strategies hospitals should include as part of their programs to improve antimicrobial prescribing practices and a joint publication comparing the results of the U.S. and EU point prevalence surveys used to estimate the burden of hospital-associated infections. The partners have also synchronized public awareness campaigns, such as the U.S. campaign Get Smart: Know When Antibiotics Work, coordinated with the EU campaign European Antibiotic Awareness Day.
The full report is available at http://www.cdc.gov/drugresistance/tatfar/report.html.