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Earlier this month, Dean Ayman El-Mohandes and Professors Diana Romero and Pedro Mateu-Gelabert participated in the 2025 Congress of the National Institute of Public Health at the National Institute of Public Health in Cuernavaca, Mexico, as part of a delegation organized by the Association of Schools and Programs in Public Health (ASPPH).
Dean El-Mohandes participated in a panel session with other deans of schools of public health entitled, “Networking and exchange of experience in education and training among schools of public health.”
Dr. Romero delivered a presentation entitled “A Snapshot of Reproductive & Sexual Health in the U.S.: Focus on adolescent and Latiné populations.” She provided an overview of the sexual and reproductive health landscape in the context of programs, policy, and epidemiologic trends/changes pre- and post- Dobbs, and the ever-changing developments since President Trump took office.
Dr. Romero also described some of the activities of CUNY SPH Sexual and Reproductive Justice Hub focused on preparing the next generation of public health leaders to conduct research and evidence-based advocacy to advance the human right to health.
“Using a multidisciplinary approach to training and research that bridges the divide across disciplines, students are equipped with the critical thinking and solutions-oriented skills needed to interrogate the upstream factors that cause inequity in health outcomes,” she said.
During the event’s Migration and Global Health session, Dr. Mateu-Gelabert led a presentation entitled “Nuevos Desafíos y Riesgos para la Salud: La Ausencia del Sur Global” (New Challenges and Risks for Health: The Absence of the Global South). He addressed growing health disparities between the Global North and low- and middle-income countries, particularly regarding the HIV and hepatitis C (HCV) epidemics among people who use drugs.
“While the Global North focuses on HCV elimination, countries like Colombia are seeing an alarming rise in HIV and HCV rates,” says Mateu-Gelabert. “Many Latin American countries lack reliable data on the prevalence of these diseases among people who use drugs, which only exacerbates the urgency of addressing this public health issue.”
In those countries with available data, high prevalence rates of both HIV and HCV coexist with minimal treatment options and harm reduction efforts. Given this, Mateu-Gelabert emphasized the critical need for international collaboration in Latin America to systematically collect data, accurately assess the scope of the problem, and develop effective prevention strategies to combat these epidemics.
