Mekong Basin Disease Surveillance Network (MBDS)
Overview | Impact & Achievements| Supporters | Future Goals
Overview
 In 1999, delegates from Ministries of Health in six Mekong countries agreed to collaborate in disease surveillance and outbreak management through the Mekong Basin Disease Surveillance (MBDS) Network. The six countries include Cambodia, Yunnan and Guanxi Provinces of China, Laos, Myanmar, Thailand and Vietnam. A Memorandum of Understanding
(MOU) signed by each country's Minister of Health formalized this
collaboration in 2001. A new MOU was signed in May 2007, reinforcing
the MBDS partnership. MBDS facilitates new and stronger relationships to influence the way health officials in the region interact with each other.
MBDS is governed by an executive board, country coordinators and a coordinating office. The network’s mission is to strengthen national and sub‐regional capabilities in infectious disease surveillance and outbreak response, especially for priority diseases, to rapidly and effectively control them.
Members
- Kingdom of Cambodia
- Yunnan and Gianxi Provinces of China
- Lao PDR (Laos)
- The Union of Myanmar
- The Kingdom of Thailand
- The Socialist Republic of Vietnam
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Activities
- Regular, cross-border information exchange
- Joint outbreak investigation and response
- Training of health personnel
- Development and implementation of protocols
- Disaster preparedness and tabletop exercises
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Priority Diseases
- Avian Influenza
- Cholera
- Dengue Fever
- Dysentery
- Emerging Infectious Diseases
- HIV/AIDS
- Malaria
- Measles
- Pneumonia
- SARS
- Tuberculosis
- Typhoid Fever
- H1N1
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Impact & Achievements
- Capacity building: applied epidemiology and geographic information systems (GIS) at central and provincial levels
- Piloting of cross‐border cooperation: Regular information exchange, joint outbreak investigation, cross‐border meetings, monitoring and evaluation, multi‐sector engagement (especially immigration, local authorities), crossborder epidemiologic case history, cross‐border medical care and clinical follow‐up, expansion to nearby provincial areas
- Tabletop exercises (TTXs) at country and regional levels
- Sent Rapid Response Team to Myanmar for post‐cyclone relief
MBDS and Red Cross representatives helped cyclone refugees in the flooded regions of Myanmar. |
Supporters
- The Rockefeller
Foundation
- NTI's Global Health and
Security Initiative
- WHO
- Google.org
- CDC
NTI's Global Health and Security Initiative provided targeted support for six national and one regional pandemic preparedness "tabletop" exercises, and is currently providing both technical and financial support for laboratory and human resource capacity building among the MBDS countries. The Rockefeller Foundation and the World Health Organization were initial supporters of the network. The Rockefeller Foundation continues to support MBDS along with Google.org and the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Future Direction
- Reduce the spread and impact of outbreak‐prone diseases, including public health emergencies of international concern (PHEIC)
- Serve as a model for sub‐regional cooperation
Links
MBDS Action Plan
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