Martin Cetron MD, CDC

Dr. Martin Cetron and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Global Migration and Quarantine Division have a tough job: protect the health of every American. Overseeing today's globally mobile population offers Cetron a unique perspective on the interconnectedness of our world. "We live in a globalized society. The public health concerns of the world are also those of the U.S.; we are forever intimately connected. We have shortened a trip around the world from weeks to hours, and in this same time frame, the population has grown from one to six billion. The CDC has a responsibility to prevent disease spread in the U.S. and to protect Americans' health. With infectious diseases accounting for up to a quarter of global deaths, we must continue to research, identify and apply the basic, simple interventions that have a big impact."

Martin CetronAs a high school student, Martin Cetron, MD, recalls his father returning from a trip to Mexico, deathly ill from an undiagnosed form of hepatitis. "I couldn't understand how no one here could give us any answers." Cetron now directs a program that provides medical screening and disease prevention programs to 80,000 refugees and over 1 million immigrants annually. There is a "huge globally mobile population" that touches the U.S., with over 120 million international travelers a year and over one million international arrivals a day, through all ports of entry in the US.

Global public health research has been and is key to protecting Americans and improving our collective health. In the late 90s, research studies showed that we were missing over 50% of active TB cases among new arrivals into the U.S. because the detection methods at that time were too insensitive. This internationally collaborative public health research led to a three-fold increase in detection using different methods. It also led researchers to be able to identify dangerous drug-resistant TB strains, and as a result better treatment and prevention strategies.

Cetron knows that international collaboration and research have led to major advances in our refugee health efforts, informing us on what and how best to provide preventive services in camps around the world for people destined to be U.S. citizens. Examples of this are providing pre-departure anti-malaria drugs, vaccinating children, and providing de-worming medication. This helps decrease sickness in these vulnerable environments, and ultimately protects America and the health of our new Americans. "We cannot advance our health agendas in isolation -- our strategy must be integrated with our partners around the world in order for us to successfully carry out our responsibility to protect our citizens and lead in public health research and practice."

Cetron teaches at Emory University and is inspired by the passion he sees in his students and the growing appreciation of the role the U.S. plays in global health issues. "We need to seize all that goodwill and talent in this environment and develop a robust global public health agenda -- for CDC as well as for the U.S. overall. It is good for our nation's health and security, builds diplomacy, forms common ground, and is tremendously rewarding. We often go into the field with great enthusiasm for what we bring to the table, services, or skills we have to offer and are sometimes chagrined by the enormous treasures offered up by our partners in the communities. We can learn so much from empowering each other to solve problems together. That cross-cultural collective effort is what makes international public health so rewarding."