A multi-media presentation on efforts to improve border area emergency health care and control infectious diseases was served up with lunch at a late May gathering of San Diego Dialogue’s Forum Fronterizo.

Panelists and guests from both Baja and San Diego heard about significant recent efforts to improve emergency health care on both sides of the border and to establish a cross-border network to watch for signs of infectious disease.

Planning for the potential of a border biological attack is not new. But since the events of Sept. 11, efforts have been stepped up to create a more comprehensive and capable medical team ready to respond.

Dr. David Hoyt, professor of surgery and chief of trauma burns at UCSD Medical Center, is leading an effort to provide resources and train medical staff in Baja.

Dr. José J. Mayagoitia, secretario técnico del Consejo de Accidentes y Lesiones de Baja California, shared how Baja has become experienced in handling trauma cases. Mayagoitia says Baja California leads all Mexican states in accidents, a ranking that comes with its status as a place where people gather to have fun. “Trauma is obviously a serious health problem that must be addressed,” Mayagoitia says. Both he and Hoyt agreed that more training was required and that doctors on both sides of the border needed to be better acquainted.

In response to the high level of health emergencies in Baja, the Border Health Education Network was created. The community-based project is managed by UCSD in partnership with the Universidad Autónoma de Baja California and the Border Health Initiative of Project Concern International. Already the effort has brought medical experts from Baja into the United States where they observe and learn how San Diego trauma centers operate.

Dr. Stephen Waterman, U.S.-Mexico border epidemiologist for the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and a member of the San Diego County Advisory Committee on Bioterrorism Preparedness, spoke of how easy it is to spread infectious diseases across the border. He referenced the hepatitis A outbreak associated with strawberries shipped from Baja to a San Diego distributor. Pointing out that could just as easily be done with anthrax, he said planning for a regional response is critical.

“The border clearly is a unique epidemiological zone in terms of the spread of infectious diseases,” he says. “Until recently the U.S. and Mexico had no unified system to track diseases in the region.” To bridge the gap and improve the detection of outbreaks, CDC has partnered with U.S. border states and counties and Mexico in a new border infectious disease program.

Dr. Franciso Vera, secretary of health for Baja, says ongoing efforts will continue to improve public health preparedness and emergency response in the binational region.

— Maria L. Kirkpatrick