The health ministers of the four full member countries of Mercosur, as well as Chile, agreed on Tuesday (22.03.2022) during a meeting in Montevideo to work on unified health requirements regarding COVID-19 for international travel.
"Sand reaffirmed the Need for regional harmonization of health strategies, measures and criteria related to border crossings, based on the principles and objectives of Mercosur and the possibilities of establishing consensus and processes," according to a statement from the Ministry of Health.
The IV Extraordinary Meeting of Ministers of Health of Mercosur and Associated States, held in Montevideo, was attended by Carla Vizzotti (Argentina), Julio César Borba Vargas (Paraguay), Marcelo Queiroga (Brazil), María Begonia Yarza Sáez (Chile) and Daniel Salinas (Uruguay).
The Uruguayan minister said after the meeting that "convergence will be sought regarding the entry requirements of each country, in terms of vaccines, sworn declaration forms and entry analysis."
The ministers also agreed on coordinated strategies to tackle COVID-19 amid the circulation of other respiratory viruses, making it necessary to strengthen preventive measures common to this type of virus.
That is to say, the practices that society has become accustomed to after two years of the pandemic to combat other types of infections will be maintained, such as the use of masks, hand hygiene and adequate ventilation of indoor spaces.
Officials also agreed to promote initiatives between so-called “mirror cities” on each side of the border, such as vaccination campaigns against measles, rubella and yellow fever at border crossings.
Finally, the authorities also committed to strengthening risk communication strategies and sharing good practices learned, with the aim of increasing the effectiveness of public health policies. In turn, they agreed to develop a workshop to advance towards a border health plan in Mercosur.Ministry of Health statement)
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