VZCZCXRO7865
PP RUEHCHI RUEHDT RUEHHM RUEHNH
DE RUEHGP #0350/01 0380525
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P 070525Z FEB 06
FM AMEMBASSY SINGAPORE
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 8698
INFO RUCNASE/ASEAN MEMBER COLLECTIVE
RUEHBJ/AMEMBASSY BEIJING 2034
RUEHBY/AMEMBASSY CANBERRA 1563
RUEHKO/AMEMBASSY TOKYO 5250
RUEHHK/AMCONSUL HONG KONG 5928
RUEAUSA/DEPT OF HHS WASHDC
RUEHRC/DEPT OF AGRICULTURE WASHDC

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 SINGAPORE 000350 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE FOR UNDER SECRETARY DOBRIANSKY 
STATE PASS TO HHS FOR ABHAT 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: AMED EAGR TBIO ECON EINV APECO SN
SUBJECT: AMBASSADOR'S CALL ON MINISTER OF HEALTH KHAW BOON 
WAN 
 
 
¶1.  (SBU) Summary.  Minister of Health KHAW Boon Wan told the 
Ambassador during her February 2 courtesy call that our 
bilateral Regional Emerging Diseases Intervention (REDI) 
Center first needed to "get off the ground" -- hiring a 
permanent Director and additional staff -- before broadening 
its focus beyond regional health-related training activities. 
 The Ambassador noted that the Ministry of Health's (MOH) 
prompt completion of U.S. Department of Health and Human 
Services (HHS) grant applications for REDI would provide 
substantial funding to jump-start the Center's larger role in 
combating emerging diseases.  The Ambassador stressed that 
REDI's effectiveness would be further enhanced by the 
accession of other APEC economies; Minister Khaw advocated 
that we proceed cautiously in this regard to mitigate 
potential political sensitivities.  On Avian Influenza (AI), 
Minister Khaw said that developing a regional network of 
physicians and healthcare workers could prove critical to 
containing a possible pandemic, especially in a region where 
government transparency was sometimes lacking.  Minister Khaw 
commented that Singapore's proposed trilateral initiative 
with the USG to establish an "AI-free zone" in Indonesia was 
proceeding smoothly and that he welcomed U.S. participation 
in the next planning meeting scheduled for early March in 
Singapore.  End Summary. 
 
REDI CENTER 
----------- 
 
¶2.  (SBU) Referencing her January 12 visit to the REDI 
Center, the Ambassador urged MOH to complete at the earliest 
opportunity two HHS grant applications.  She noted that these 
grants, to be used in part to train health care workers in 
Vietnam, Indonesia, Cambodia, and Laos, would constitute the 
first substantial funding to REDI since we signed the 
agreement on November 22, 2005 establishing REDI as an 
international organization under Singapore law.  Minister 
Khaw said he had "high expectations" for REDI's future.  He 
cautioned, however, that REDI should concentrate for now on 
training projects similar to those in which it was already 
engaged before branching out into facilitating biomedical 
research and other activities.  Asked about REDI's efforts to 
fight bioterrorism, Minister Khaw said that REDI was created 
to prevent both natural and man-made epidemics, and that 
neither mission should be neglected. 
 
THIRD PARTY ACESSION TO REDI 
---------------------------- 
 
¶3.  (SBU) The Ambassador commented that REDI's role in 
combating emerging diseases like AI would be enhanced by the 
accession of other APEC economies.  Minister Khaw agreed, but 
stressed the need to first get REDI off the ground, including 
by hiring a permanent Director and additional full-time 
staff, before "delving too far" into what could be a 
politically sensitive area.  (Note: Under the terms of the 
2005 REDI Agreement, Singapore is obligated to draft 
accession language for USG consideration.  End note.) 
 
REGIONAL LINKAGES KEY TO COMBATTING AI 
-------------------------------------- 
 
¶4.  (SBU) Minister Khaw suggested that, through 
REDI-sponsored training and workshops, regional physicians 
and healthcare workers could develop informal communication 
networks; these networks were the best way to ensure early 
detection and timely alerts of an AI outbreak, especially in 
a part of the world where governments generally were not 
known for sufficient transparency, he observed.  Those best 
able to spot outbreaks first (i.e., physicians) could serve a 
useful role in circumventing potential delays in government 
responses, he said.  Minister Khaw concluded that by 
facilitating linkages among a few thousand doctors in the 
region, it might be possible to contain a pandemic. 
 
TRILATERAL INITIATIVE 
--------------------- 
 
¶5.  (SBU) The Ambassador asked about the status of the 
GOS-proposed trilateral AI initiative, whereby Singapore and 
the United States (through REDI) and Indonesia would work 
together to prevent and control AI within a designated area 
 
SINGAPORE 00000350  002 OF 002 
 
 
of Indonesia.  Minister Khaw said that the pilot project was 
"coming along nicely."  He explained that Singapore and 
Indonesia had held two working-level meetings since he first 
raised the idea with Indonesia's Vice-President and Minister 
of Health last fall.  Minister Khaw said that he looked 
forward to U.S. participation in the next meeting, most 
likely in early March, and to a subsequent meeting, possibly 
in April, that would include the World Health Organization 
and the World Bank. 
HERBOLD