Responding to Communicable Diseases in Internationally Mobile Populations at Points of Entry and along Porous Borders, Nigeria, Benin, and Togo

• DOI: 10.3201/eid2313.170520
• Publication Date: 2017-11-07T13:43:09Z
• Authors: Rebecca D. Merrill; Kimberly Rogers; Sarah Ward; Olubumni Ojo; Clement Glele Kakaī; Tamekloe Tsidi Ag...; Hassan Garba; Amanda MacGurn; Marydale Oppert; Idrissa Kone; Olutola Bamsa; Dana Schneider; Clive Brown
• Keywords: 0301 basic medicine; International Cooperation; global health; Nigeria; Infectious and parasitic diseases; RC109-216; Global Health; Communicable Diseases; border crossing; Disease Outbreaks; 03 medical and health sciences; Benin; Humans; Public Health Surveillance; global health security; Research; R; Emigration and Immigration; public health surveillance; 3. Good health; 13. Climate action; Population Surveillance; Togo; Communicable Disease Control; Medicine

Recent multinational disease outbreaks demonstrate the risk of disease spreading globally before public health systems can respond to an event. To ensure global health security, countries need robust multisectoral systems to rapidly detect and respond to domestic or imported communicable diseases. The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention International Border Team works with the governments of Nigeria, Togo, and Benin, along with Pro-Health International and the Abidjan-Lagos Corridor Organization, to build sustainable International Health Regulations capacities at points of entry (POEs) and along border regions. Together, we strengthen comprehensive national and regional border health systems by developing public health emergency response plans for POEs, conducting qualitative assessments of public health preparedness and response capacities at ground crossings, integrating internationally mobile populations into national health surveillance systems, and formalizing cross-border public health coordination. Achieving comprehensive national and regional border health capacity, which advances overall global health security, necessitates multisectoral dedication to the aforementioned components.