French National Academy of Medicine welcomes in Paris the first Mexican-French Forum in Health

The first Franco-Mexican Health Forum took place on 9 and 10 July 2015, to mark the state visit to France by President Enrique Peña Nieto. On 10 July and with the patronage of the Health Ministers of Mexico and France, Dr. Mercedes Juan Lopez and Ms. Marisol Touraine, a seminar was held in the auditorium of the French National Academy of Medicine. One hundred French and Mexican experts took part in a workday on three subjects: “Nutrition and the Prevention of Obesity and Chronic Diseases”, “Growing Old in Good Health”, and “Towards Universal Health Coverage” (Fig. 1).

Figure 1.

(From left to right):

Dr. Javier Dávila Torres (Director of Medical Services in the Mexican Social Security Institute);

Mr. Martin Hirsch (Director-General of Public Care –Paris Hospitals);

Dr. Mercedes Juan López (Mexican Health Secretary);

Ms. Marisol Touraine (French Health Minister);

Prof. André Laurent Parodi (Honorary President of the French National Academy of Medicine, the delegate for relations with Mexico);

Dr. Enrique Graue Wiechers (President of the Mexican National Academy of Medicine).

In their introductions each Minister mentioned the close ties between the two countries in the field of health, as well as the challenges they both have to face. They underlined the benefit that could be expected to arise from their shared experience in research institutions as well as their medical staff, together with industrial companies of both companies in the health sphere.

As a result of the ties of our Academy with Mexico, I had the opportunity of remembering the events we have shared in recent years. These occurred after I had had the honour of signing an agreement in 2013 with our Mexican correspondents, the Mexican Academy of Surgery – the true initiator of the cooperation process under the Presidency of Dr. Alejandro Reyes Fuentes, – and the Mexican National Academy of Medicine.

These facts were also mentioned by Dr. Enrique Graue Wiechers, the President of the Mexican National Academy of Medicine. He expressed his hope that our academic ties would be even more active in the coming years.

Finally, Mr. Martin Hirsch, the Director-General of Public Care – Paris Hospitals (AP-HP) and Dr. Javier Davila Torres, the Director of Medical Services of the Mexican Institute of Social Security (IMSS), the representative of Dr. José Antonio González Anaya, the Director-General of the said Institute, mentioned the main cooperative actions undertaken, such as the support of the AP-HP for the organisation of a national SAMU (Service d’Aide Médicale d’Urgence) in Mexico, and the exchange of experiences in cardiology, hospital management and remote medicine.

Two bilateral agreements were signed in this inaugural session. The first is between the Institut Pasteur, represented by its Director-General, Professor Christian Bréchot, and the Mexican Health Secretary. It will strengthen the ties between these Institutions, most particularly in the fields of infectious diseases and chronic non-transmittable diseases. The second agreement is between l’Agence Nationale de Sécurité du Médicament (ANSM), represented by its Director-General Dr. Dominique Martin, and the Mexican Health Secretary through the Federal Commission for Protection against Healthcare Risks (COFEPRIS), represented by Dr. Mikel Andoni Arriola Peñalosa, Federal Commissioner. This initiates a time of collaboration between both agencies in the form of exchanging information and experiences, professional care and training.

After the opening session the rest of the day was occupied by three round tables, one for each of the selected subjects. This work concluded with a presentation of the results in the Auditorium that was chaired by Dr. Mercedes Juan López and Director-General Martin Hirsch.

The papers in the group “Nutrition and the Prevention of Obesity and Chronic Diseases”, which were presented by Prof. Serge Hercberg and Prof. Javier Dávila Torres, prioritise the implementation in Mexico of an epidemiological electronic platform, Nutrinet, based on the French model of NutriNet-Santé, to promote research work in this country, together with monitoring and the promotion of public health in this field. Another proposal was for an agreement on nutritional information in labelling.

The papers in the round table on “Aging in Good Health”, which were presented by Prof. Jean-François Dartigues and Luis Miguel Gutiérrez, Director-General of the Mexican Institute of Geriatrics, centred on research and the application of a methodology to prevent the risks of aging. They underlined the importance of implementing a care system for people based on the creation of integrated medical services, as well as revising the vaccination programs for older adults. They also promoted the evaluation of a Mexican plan for Alzheimer's disease based on the French model.

Finally, there was the round table on the subject of “Towards Universal Health Coverage”. The speakers were Laurent Chambaud, Director of l’Ecole des Hautes Etudes en Santé Publique (EHESP) and the Subsecretary for the Integration and Development of the Health Sector in the Health Secretariat, Mexico, Eduardo Gonzáles Pier. He emphasised the commencement of co-working in certification of medication histories and regulation mechanisms, as well as the reactivation of cooperation between the EHESP and the Health Secretariat in Mexico.

To conclude, the Director-General of the AP-HP, Martin Hirsch, underlined the importance of the three subjects covered by the seminar, together with the high level of interest shown by both France and Mexico in them. This makes both countries valid interlocutors in international bodies.

Thanks to the quality of the participants and the importance of its resolutions, this seminar, which was under the patronage of and attended by both health ministers, is a new and important milestone in the strong and active ties that already exist between our two countries in the field of health.

I would like to add that, to continue this First Franco-Mexican Health Forum, on July 16 both ministers signed a declaration of intent. This commits them to support the implementation of a Nutrinet-Health Mexico program, to create an international laboratory associated with the INSERM (Institut de la Santé et de la Recherche Médicale) and the National Geriatrics Institute of Mexico, as well as boosting cooperation in the evaluation of new healthcare technologies and the identification of shared initiatives that help to reduce the affects of climate change on health.

The ministers promised to organise a health forum similar to this one every two years, alternating between Mexico and France, “with the aim of ensuring a continuous dialogue and evaluating the results of future actions”.