AID/CDC International health initiative

Center for Disease Control (CDC). The CDC will create a special unit to implement the project and coordinate it with other active A.I.D. and CDC projects. In conjunction with A.I.D., the CDC will develop work programs for each of A.I.D."s four geographic regions. Short-term CDC consultants will then evaluate health problems and constraints in specific countries and will help host countries and USAID"s to design country projects. The CDC will maintain a core staff of technical experts to provide short- and long-term assistance to the PHC components of country projects. Staff expertise in such areas as schistosomiasis and health anthropology will be developed. CDC assistance will focus on disease surveillance; epidemiologic field training; and control of immunizable diseases, diarrhea, malaria, and other selected diseases. Surveillance systems will be developed at local, subnational, and national levels; the data collected will be used to provide immediate feedback to local communities and health delivery systems and to refine project development and implementation. The CDC will assist 10-20 countries to develop national epidemiologic training programs which will include supervised field experience with either a regional or a national base. Regional and national immunization programs will also be assisted; immunization for measles, diptheria, whooping cough, tetanus, poliomyelitis, and tuberculosis will be considered. Diarrheal disease control assistance will focus on incorporating oral rehydration therapy into PHC programs, especially for children under age five. Assistance to national and regional malaria control programs will emphasize pesticide formulation and analysis, training, toxicology, parasitology, vector control, epidemiology, and environmental concerns. When requested, the CDC may also provide assistance to national and regional programs concerned with other major diseases as long as these programs are appropriate to PHC efforts.