Projects

Middle East Consortium on Infectious Disease Surveillance (MECIDS)

Overview | Impact & Achievements|Supporters |Future Goals

Overview

The Middle East Consortium on Infectious Disease Surveillance (MECIDS) brings together public health experts and Ministry of Health officials from Jordan, Israel, and the Palestinian Authority. The goal of MECIDS is to improve the ability of partners in the Middle East to detect and respond more effectively to infectious disease threats through cross‐border collaboration on surveillance and joint epidemiologic and laboratory training. The Consortium manages its affairs through an Executive Board composed of members drawn from the partner countries.

Impact & Achievements

The common threat of emerging infectious disease has served as an opportunity to bridge political disputes and focus on humanitarian and health matters for the common good of all partner countries. Toward this end, MECIDS partners have made an impact in the following ways:

• Developed Standard Operating Procedures and protocols for regional responses to infectious disease outbreaks
• Detected two significant outbreaks, salmonella and mumps, providing evidence that the system is functioning
  properly
• Shared data and coordinated cross‐country planning to help mitigate a potential public health crisis due to multiple avian influenza outbreaks
• Built professional and personal relationships through joint efforts on preparedness which has created an infrastructure for cross border collaboration during emergencies
• Engaged in cross country cooperation of veterinary and public health services that helped contain outbreaks of avian influenza in the partner countries
• Conducted regular meetings of the Executive Board to share information on the status of Influenza A (H1N1) within each country and to provide updates on their national preparedness plans in order to develop and adapt a regional plan of action to mitigate the impact of the disease.
  

Members of the MECIDS Secretariat and Executive Board and GHSI's Terence Taylor: (bottom, from left) Dr. Alex Leventhal, Dr. Adel Belbesi, Dr. Assad Ramlawi; (top, from left) General Mohammed Shiyyab, Dr. Bassam Hijawi, Dr. Daniel Cohen, Mr. Terence Taylor

Supporters

NTI's GHSI provides essential financial, technical and advisory support to MECIDS, and Search for Common Ground has provided day-to-day management of projects and activities. MECIDS is currently transitioning to a self-sustaining model run by the MECIDS members. In support of this transition, the World Bank has provided NTI with a grant that will allow the members to strengthen laboratory capacity and governance.

Becton Dickinson and Company has donated a three-year supply of reagents and other medical supplies needed for laboratory diagnosis. IBM is making an in-kind donation that includes the development of a new, innovative approach to handling epidemiological data through a shared laboratory information network for the MECIDS partners.

MECIDS advisors include the WHO and American and European organizations. MECIDS has created a tight network among senior officials in the region, including the heads of the public health services and centers for disease control of Jordan and Israel.

Future Goals

The focus of MECIDS will continue to be the improvement of national and regional infrastructure to detect and control infectious disease, especially through improved disease surveillance. MECIDS members have identified immediate goals that include:

• Meeting critical laboratory needs for pathogen species characterization
• Improving information sharing capacity
• Finalizing a common plan of action on avian Influenza A (H1N1)
• Writing and implementing pandemic influenza cooperation procedures according to the International Health Regulations
• Ensuring the financial stability and sustainability of MECIDS
• Engaging other countries in the region with a view towards membership
  

Links

1. BMJ Article "Regional Collaboration in the Middle East to deal with H5N1 flu."

2. MECIDS Website

MECIDS is a collaboration of national and international organizations including: Al Quds University • Cooperative Monitoring Center in Amman, Jordan • European Programme on Intervention Epidemiology Training • Ministry of Health, Israel • Ministry of Health, Jordan • Ministry of Health, Palestinian Authority • Sandia National Laboratories • Search for Common Ground • Tel Aviv University • NTI's Global Health and Security Initiative • World Health Organization