Harvard, Mexican Government To Cooperate on Public Health

Harvard has signed an academic exchange agreement with the Mexican Ministry of Health which makes official the University's committment to working with the Mexican government in public health research.

The agreement, signed jointly by Mexican Minister of Health Dr. Guillermo Soberon and President Derek C. Bok, states that each institution will provide "human, material, and financial resources within their ability to do so."

Under the agreement, the School of Public Health (SPH) and the Center for Public Health Research (CPHR) in Mexico City will exchange faculty and students.

"It's a very important step forward," said Jay A. Winsten, director of the health policy department in the School of Public Health.

Faculty and students from SPH and CPHR have worked together in the past, said Assistant Professor of Biostatistics James R. Anderson, a member of the SPH's faculty committee on Mexico. "The letter of undestanding just formalizes this informal relationship."

"Those of us on the committee hope that this agreement will help foster interaction between the faculty and staff of both centers," Anderson said.

Faculty and students participating will attend and conduct seminars, short courses, and workshops, as well as research these, and plan postdoctoral studies, according to the agreement.

Joint research projects will explore such topics as socioeconomic development, child care and environmental health.

Harvard students in the past have participated in pilot programs such as summer courses in epidemiology--the study of epidemics--and various other research projects.

Anderson said one SPH teaching fellow currently spends two months each year researching preventable hospitalizations in children.

Participating Harvard faculty members will ideally become "fully integrated collaborators" with their Mexican counterparts and help them "structure their continuing education programs," Anderson said.