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Conference Summary
Global Infectious Disease
Policy
At the International Conference on Emerging Infectious Diseases 2002,
held in Atlanta, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)
released a document entitled, “Protecting the Nation’s Health in an Era
of Globalization: CDC’s Global Infectious Disease Strategy,” which describes
plans for controlling infectious diseases worldwide. The document outlines
global partnerships and measures for improving capacity for disease surveillance
and outbreak response and for applying proven public health tools to the
control of emerging infectious diseases over the next decade. In addition,
the document calls for strengthening global initiatives for disease control,
conducting applied research on diseases of international importance, and
building public health training and capacity worldwide.
International Emerging Infections Programs in various parts of the world
will support the activities outlined in the global strategy document.
The International Emerging Infections Program (IEIP), Thailand, is the
first site in the network of IEIPs proposed in the plan. Through the IEIP
network, modeled after the U.S. Emerging Infections Program, specialists
will work with local ministries of health to support laboratory-enhanced,
population-based surveillance for infectious diseases. Data from this
surveillance will allow ministries of health to prioritize diseases, evaluate
targeted interventions, and support global efforts to prevent and control
disease. IEIPs will train local scientists and CDC personnel, provide
diagnostic and epidemiologic resources when outbreaks occur, and serve
as platforms for regional infectious disease control activities.
In December 2001, IEIP Thailand and the Southeast Asia Regional Office
of the World Health Organization hosted a training course on anthrax,
attended by 64 participants from 16 countries. In 2002, IEIP Thailand
initiated an investigation of an increase in reported leptospirosis cases
through a study of hospitalized patients with febrile illness. IEIP Thailand
is planning studies of respiratory illness and encephalitis later this
year; a second IEIP site will be launched soon.
The Global Infectious Disease Strategy document is available at http://www.cdc.gov/globalidplan.
Supplementary materials are available at http://www.cdc.gov/ncidod.
For a print copy of the strategy, send a request by e-mail to ncid@cdc.gov;
or by fax to 404-639-4194; or contact NCID, Office of Health Communications,
1600 Clifton Road, NE, Mailstop C14, Atlanta, GA 30333 USA.
Eric D. Mintz
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, Georgia, USA
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