TY  - JOUR
PY  - 2017//
TI  - The Maritime Declaration of Health (MDH) as a tool to detect maritime traffic-related health risks: analysis of MDH forms submitted to Spanish ports, October 2014 to March 2015
JO  - Euro surveillance
A1  - López-Gigosos, Rosa M.
A1  - Segura, Marina
A1  - Díez-Díaz, Rosa M.
A1  - Ureña, Isabel
A1  - Urzay, David
A1  - Guillot, Patricia
A1  - Guerra-Neira, Ana
A1  - Rivera, Almudena
A1  - Pérez-Cobaleda, Ángeles
A1  - Martín, Ascensión
A1  - Nuñez-Torrón, María
A1  - Alvarez, Begoña
A1  - Faraco, Mar
A1  - Barrera, Jose M.
A1  - Calvo, María J.
A1  - Gallegos, José
A1  - Bermejo, Antonio
A1  - Aramburu, Carmen
A1  - Dávila, Miguel
A1  - Carreras, Fernando
A1  - Neipp, Rosemarie
A1  - Mariscal, Alberto
SP  - e30551
EP  - e30551
VL  - 22
IS  - 24
N2  - The international maritime traffic of people and goods has often contributed to the spread of pathogens affecting public health. The Maritime Declaration of Health (MDH), according to the International Health Regulations (IHR) (2005), is a document containing data related to the state of health on board a ship during passage and on arrival at port. It is a useful tool for early detection of public health risks. The main objective of our study was to evaluate compliance with the model provided in the IHR, focusing on the format and degree of completion of MDH forms received at Spanish ports. We reviewed the content of 802 MDH forms submitted to nine Spanish ports between October 2014 and March 2015. Study results show that 22% of MDH forms presented did not comply with the recommended model and 39% were incomplete. The proportion of cargo ships with correct and complete MDH forms was lower than passenger ships; thus, the nine health questions were answered less frequently by cargo ships than passenger ships (63% vs 90%, p value < 0.001). The appropriate demand and usage of MDH forms by competent authorities should improve the quality of the document as a tool and improve risk assessment.<br><br>This article is copyright of The Authors, 2017.<p />  <p>Language: en</p>
LA  - en
SN  - 1025-496X
UR  - http://dx.doi.org/10.2807/1560-7917.ES.2017.22.24.30551
ID  - ref1
ER  -