Epidemiology Network for Laboratory Capacity Enhancement (ENLACE) - The United States and Mexico, linked by a 2,000-mile border, see over 400 million legal northbound crossings yearly, with Mexico being the US's second largest trading partner. The interconnectivity extends beyond commerce, including regular and irregular migrants who use Mexico as an entry point to the US. The intertwining has public health implications, as demonstrated by binational efforts since 1985 between Mexico’s Secretariat of Health and the CDC to establish binational infectious disease surveillance and control. Various infectious disease outbreaks over the past decades have highlighted the need for effective disease detection, investigation, and control, demonstrating the importance of a collaborative and sustained binational approach. This became particularly evident during the COVID-19 pandemic. It's mutually beneficial for both nations to maintain and enhance current bilateral efforts. This includes enhancing surveillance for infectious diseases, improving laboratory data reporting, strengthening binational outbreak response, and assessing programs for better bilateral response strategies. The Epidemiology Network for Laboratory Capacity Enhancement ENLACE project is a collaboration between UCSF’s IGHS, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México (UNAM), and the Instituto Nacional de Salud Publica (INSP) in Mexico. ENLACE proposes to accelerate progress toward a world safe and secure from infectious disease threats by strengthening key systems needed to improve detection and response to disease threats in Mexico. ENLACE strategies are focused on strengthening health systems to protect the most vulnerable communities, in particular indigenous populations and migrant communities. Prioritizing local partners, while leveraging the technical expertise of regional and US- based collaborators, ENLACE offers a sustainable, anti-colonial approach to public health, in support of CDC’s vision. ENLACE will address the four strategies in the NOFO: 1) Enhance Public Health (PH) epidemiologic and laboratory capacity; 2)Enhance surveillance network for detection, prevention, and control of diseases among border, bi-national, and mobile populations; 3)Translate program evaluation findings into actionable interventions; and 4) Respond to potential public health emergencies of international concern (PHEIC) leveraging their deep expertise in the technical domains and experience in Mexico while ensuring an equity driven approach to improving surveillance and disease notification. This consortium represents the best in technical expertise and local expertise and is prepared to strengthen bi-national efforts in disease surveillance and reporting.
