IDB provides support for prevention and control of the A(H1N1) influenza pandemic in Latin America, Caribbean

Japan top donor in Bank’s contribution to project aimed at strengthening disease surveillance and improving response to public health emergencies, to focus initially in Central America

The Inter-American Development Bank approved today a $5 million grant for a program aimed at supporting prevention and control of the A(H1N1) influenza epidemic and other infectious diseases in Latin America and the Caribbean, with an initial focus on Central America.

Japan is the top donor country for this initiative, providing $2 million of the total $5 million through its Japan Special Fund.

The Bank’s contribution to this program, developed in coordination with the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) and the U.S. CDC Foundation, was initially announced by the IDB on May 1^st, at the early stages of the A(H1N1) influenza outbreak. Today’s approval confirms resource allocation days after the disease was declared a pandemic by the World Health Organization (WHO).

As of June 15, 2009, 76 countries had officially reported 35,928 cases of influenza A(H1N1) infection, according to the latest available WHO update. The disease has mainly affected the Western Hemisphere, with 90 percent of all confirmed cases. The latest PAHO update, dated June 16, 2009, reports almost 18,000 cases in the United States, over 6,000 in Mexico, over 4,000 in Canada, over 2,300 in Chile and 733 in Argenttina.

“The operation starts with Central America but it is not limited to Central America,” said Amanda Glassman, a principal social development specialist at the IDB. “It builds on previous regional efforts to strengthen epidemiological surveillance through the Mesoamerica Epidemiological Surveillance Project, and it will also build on Mexico’s experience to control spread of the disease.”

The Central American epidemiological surveillance project was launched in 2006 with a $150,000 grant from the IDB, and the initial studies leading to the creation of such system, in 1999, were financed by the Bank as well.

The program includes the creation of a shared database of disease occurrence and patterns in Central American countries, to provide timely information that will enable national health authorities to take preventive action more effectively.

A regional public health laboratory network aims at confirming cases of infectious diseases with cross-border potential, while a regional public health emergency information, communication and response system will further assist authorities in analyzing surveillance data to guide disease prevention and control.

A regional meeting to share experiences and identify best practices is also anticipated.