Signed ad referendum by 18 countries of the Americas in November of 1924, the Pan American Sanitary Code (the Code) represents decades of international initiatives aimed at prolonging people's lives. The object of the code, inter alia, is to prevent the international spread of communicable infections, stimulate the mutual interchange of information which may be of value in improving public health, and standardizing measures employed at places of entry, for the prevention of the introduction and spread of communicable diseases. The Code obligates member states to report to other members if any of a number of enumerated diseases are identified within the member state, and the Code also adopts international classifications of the causes of death used in the interchange of mortality and morbidity reports.