At a glance
CDC Dominican Republic, established in 2009, works with the Ministry of Health to prevent the spread of infectious diseases, prepare for the next pandemic, and address other public health issues. CDC also addresses HIV, global health security, and emerging diseases.
Overview
CDC established an office in the Dominican Republic (DR) in 2009. CDC DR works with the Ministry of Health (MOH) in the following public health areas:
- HIV
- Global health security
- Laboratory quality
- Surveillance
- Workforce development
- Emerging diseases and outbreak response
- Other public health issues such as medical tourism
HIV
Strategic focus
Through the U.S. President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR), CDC DR partners with the MOH to:
- Increase the number of people with HIV who receive and stay on treatment
- Improve access to HIV services for populations who are harder to reach, such as migrants
- Strengthen HIV information and laboratory systems
- Help the DR adopt and implement international HIV policies
Key achievements
- CDC supports 21 healthcare facilities that provide HIV services across the country
- With CDC support, the number of Haitian migrants who receive HIV treatment quadrupled from 2020-2023
- CDC helped develop an electronic HIV patient information system to track individual treatment progress and outcomes
- CDC helped develop the DR's first guidelines for providing preventive therapy to people at risk of HIV
Global health security
Strategic focus
CDC's global health security program works with the DR government to help them prepare for the next pandemic. This work includes strengthening health systems to prevent, detect, and respond to infectious disease threats.
Laboratory capacity
CDC's Strengthening Laboratory Management Toward Accreditation (SLMTA) program has been implemented in 25 laboratories across the DR. The SLMTA program has successfully improved the quality of laboratory services. The program is now transitioning to the DR government for continued implementation.
CDC has trained laboratory staff on methods to diagnose arboviruses such as dengue, Zika, and chikungunya and respiratory diseases such as COVID-19 and influenza.
Disease surveillance
CDC DR helped the MOH develop the National Epidemiology Surveillance System. This electronic platform includes a laboratory component and is used for individual reporting of all notifiable diseases. CDC also helped transition the DR from weekly paper-based reporting to daily electronic reporting.
As a member of the chikungunya and dengue technical working groups, CDC provides technical expertise on surveillance protocols. CDC DR helps draft alerts and situational updates when outbreaks occur.
Workforce development
As of 2023, 760 epidemiology trainees graduated from the CDC-supported Frontline Field Epidemiology Training Program (FETP). Over 190 of these graduates also completed the Intermediate FETP and over 20 also completed the Advanced FETP. These epidemiologists serve as on-the-ground disease detectives on the front lines of public health. They have helped detect, prevent, and control numerous disease outbreaks across the DR before they can become epidemics.
Additional activities
Strategic focus
CDC works closely with the MOH to respond to a broad range of infectious disease outbreaks and other health problems. This range includes cholera, chikungunya, Zika, malaria, histoplasmosis, dengue, mpox, COVID-19, infection control, and medical tourism.
COVID-19
CDC DR was a leading partner in the MOH's COVID-19 response. CDC trained public health responders and helped develop daily and weekly situational updates to inform the national response. CDC provided technical expertise on emergency response, patient management, and laboratory policies. CDC also donated laboratory equipment and supplies.
Medical tourism
CDC and the MOH conducted an investigation on deaths among US citizens who had cosmetic surgery in the DR. The recommendations from the investigation are being used by the U.S. State Department to alert U.S. citizens on how to reduce their risk of complications and death. The MOH is using the recommendations to improve the safety and quality of cosmetic surgery in the DR.
Infection prevention and control (IPC)
CDC supported the development of IPC plans for respiratory diseases, including tuberculosis, in 10 HIV clinics across the country. In 2022, CDC helped train 60 MOH staff across the country on monitoring and evaluating IPC practices.