VZCZCXRO2295
OO RUEHAG RUEHDF RUEHIK RUEHLZ
DE RUEHHE #0405 1320704
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
O 120704Z MAY 06
FM AMEMBASSY HELSINKI
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 1854
RUCNMEM/EU MEMBER STATES COLLECTIVE IMMEDIATE
INFO RUEHMO/AMEMBASSY MOSCOW IMMEDIATE 4641
RUEHGV/USMISSION GENEVA 0366
RUEAUSA/DEPT OF HHS WASHDC

UNCLAS HELSINKI 000405 
 
SIPDIS 
 
DEPT FOR IO/T 
SIPDIS 
SENSITIVE 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PREL AORC TBIO WHO FI
SUBJECT: ACTING DAS DISCUSSES POLIO ERADICATION, AVIAN 
INFLUENZA AND SMALL POX WITH SENIOR FINNISH OFFICIALS 
 
REF: SECSTATE 71569 
 
¶1. (U) Summary. On May 9, Acting OES S DAS Jack Croddy and 
Embassy reps met with senior public health officials at the 
Finnish Foreign Ministry to discuss polio eradication and 
avian influenza.  He encouraged the Finns to continue 
funding the Polio Eradication Initiative and to take an 
active role on the issue during their upcoming EU 
presidency.  He also urged the Finns to work closely with 
Russia to gain their commitment to share avian samples with 
the WHO and in capacity building at FAO.  Emboff also took 
advantage of the opportunity to deliver the reftel demarche 
on small pox. End Summary. 
 
¶2. (U) On May 9, Acting S DAS Jack Croddy (who was in 
Finland leading a delegation to review the bilateral S & T 
Agreement) met with Anneli Vuorinen, Deputy Director General 
for Global Issues at the Ministry for Foreign Affairs.  He 
encouraged the Finns to continue funding the Polio 
Eradication Initiative and to take an active role on the 
issue during their presidency of the EU, beginning on July 
¶1.  He touched upon the problems associated with the 
immunization campaigns and Nigeria and asked that Finland 
and the EU consider making statements at the World Health 
Assembly that commend certain countries, but encourage 
others to do better. 
 
¶3. (U) The Finns responded that there was some donor fatigue 
amongst donor countries who had been repeatedly been given 
overly optimistic forecasts for the eradication of polio. 
Given the optimistic reports from the WHO, they noted that 
they had not considered polio to be on the verge of wide 
spread proliferation. Nonetheless, they acknowledged the 
importance of seeing the project through to the end, 
something they said could be a good success story for WHO. 
With regard to funding, they pointed out that it is unlikely 
that Finland will continue to fund specific projects in the 
future.  Instead, they intend to give lump sums to the WHO, 
which the WHO can then manage and earmark as appropriate. 
This would presumably free up human resources in Helsinki. 
 
¶4. (SBU) Croddy also discussed avian flu and the IPAPI, 
thanking Finland for its commitment and its support at the 
April 11 meeting.  He suggested that Finland might work 
closely with Russia to gain their commitment to share 
samples with the WHO. He also requested Finnish support for 
capacity building within FAO.  Vuorinen promised to take 
this into consideration, particularly as they coordinate 
their positions domestically and with other EU member states 
in advance of the World Health Assembly. 
 
¶5. (U) Following this discussion, Embassy Econoff raised the 
talking points of the reftel action request on small pox, 
soliciting Finnish support for the continuation of official 
small pox stocks in the U.S. and Russia, as well as testing 
with the live virus.  Vuorinen responded that while the 
issue was remotely familiar to her, they had not yet 
discussed this within their WHA delegation.  She promised to 
do so, and to take our views into consideration. 
 
HYATT