Network of laboratories contributes to reducing the impact of emergencies and disasters on health

From the Editorial Office

Newspaper La Jornada
Monday, February 28, 2022, p. 16

The National Network of Public Health Laboratories is a solid component of the health system that, through its perspective of analytical control for the detection of risks and epidemiological surveillance, contributes to facing the covid-19 contingency, said Hugo López-Gatell , Undersecretary of Prevention and Health Promotion.

During the First Academic Sessions of the National Network of Public Health Laboratories that were held virtually, the general director of Health Promotion, Ricardo Cortés Alcalá, mentioned that the network is made up of 32 units of this type, one per entity federation, which work in coordination with the Commission for Analytical Control and Extension of Coverage. Its function is to generate scientific technical support to reduce the impact of emergencies and disasters on health.

Alejandro Svarch Pérez, head of the Federal Commission for the Protection against Sanitary Risks (Cofepris), explained that as a result of the quality management systems implemented in this network, Cofepris has the necessary technical-scientific support to make decisions that guarantee the safety, quality and efficacy of health supplies.

During 2021, through the network, 285 thousand 39 determinations were made that were reported in the National System of Basic Information on Health Matters and three laboratories were strengthened with atomic absorption equipment and two with gas chromatographs.