VZCZCXRO6773
RR RUEHCHI RUEHDT RUEHHM RUEHLN RUEHMA RUEHPB
DE RUEHHI #2686/01 2960231
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 230231Z OCT 06
FM AMEMBASSY HANOI
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 3766
INFO RUEHHM/AMCONSUL HO CHI MINH 2014
RUEHZS/ASEAN REGIONAL FORUM COLLECTIVE
RUEHZN/ENVIRONMENT SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY COLLECTIVE
RUEHUL/AMEMBASSY SEOUL 3015
RUEHKO/AMEMBASSY TOKYO 5603
RUEHHK/AMCONSUL HONG KONG 1018
RUEHGZ/AMCONSUL GUANGZHOU 0728
RUEHCN/AMCONSUL CHENGDU 0265
RUEHRN/USMISSION UN ROME
RUEHIN/AIT TAIPEI 1411
RUEAIIA/CIA WASHINGTON DC
RUEHPH/CDC ATLANTA GA
RUEAUSA/DEPT OF HHS WASHINGTON DC
RUEHRC/DEPT OF AGRICULTURE WASHINGTON DC
RUEKJCS/SECDEF WASHINGTON DC//USDP/ISA/AP//
RHMFISS/CJCS WASHINGTON DC//J2/J3/J5//
RHEFDIA/DIA WASHINGTON DC//DHO-3//
RHMFIUU/CDR USPACOM HONOLULU HI//J00/J2/J3/J5//
RHEFAFM/DIRAFMIC FT DETRICK MD//MA-1A//

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 HANOI 002686 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SIPDIS 
 
C O R R E C T E D  C O P Y (PARA TEXT) 
 
STATE FOR EAP/MLS, EAP/EP, INR, OES/STC, OES/IHA, MED 
STATE PASS TO USAID FOR ANE AND GH 
STATE PASS TO HHS/OGHA (WSTIEGER, EELVANDER AND ABHAT) USDA PASS TO 
APHIS 
DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE FOR OSD/ISA/AP (LSTERN) 
BANGKOK FOR RMO, CDC, USAID (JMACARTHUR AND MBRADY) 
ROME FOR FAO 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: TBIO KFLU AMED AMGT CASC EAGR PINR SOCI
 
SUBJECT: VIETNAM - OCTOBER 20 AVIAN INFLUENZA REPORT 
 
HANOI 00002686  001.2 OF 003 
 
 
SENSITIVE BUT UNCLASSIFIED 
 
REF: HANOI 2512 AND PREVIOUS 
 
¶1.  (SBU) Summary.  There have been no reported human Avian 
Influenza (AI) cases and no confirmed AI outbreaks in poultry to 
date this year in Vietnam.  With the winter season approaching, the 
Government of Vietnam (GVN) has announced the need to tighten AI 
controls.  On October 19, the RAND Corporation conducted Vietnam's 
first national-level AI Pandemic Tabletop Exercise at the Ministry 
of Health (MOH).  The MOH has established the National Influenza 
Surveillance System with support from HHS/CDC and the World Health 
Organization (WHO).  The GVN and United Nations Development Program 
(UNDP) seeks to establish a formal international partnership for 
Avian and 
Human Influenza in Vietnam and has invited relevant donors to a 
signing ceremony tentatively scheduled November 1, 2006.  The World 
Bank hosted an informal meeting of international partners to discuss 
the evaluation of a World Bank-supported, two-year Avian Influenza 
Emergency Recovery Project (AIEPR) and introduce a follow-up 
multi-year effort, the Vietnam Avian and Human Influenza Control and 
Preparedness Project (VAHIP).  End Summary. 
 
¶2.  (U) There have been no reported Avian Influenza (AI) cases and 
no confirmed AI outbreaks in poultry to date this year in Vietnam. 
 
 
GVN Prepares for Winter Flu Season 
---------------------------------- 
 
¶3.  (U) With the winter season approaching, the GVN has announced 
the need to tighten AI controls.  At a recent meeting of the 
National Steering Committee for Bird Flu Control, Vice Minister of 
Agriculture and Rural Development Bui Ba Bong urged Vietnamese 
officials to remain vigilant in the remaining months of 2006, noting 
that the cooler temperatures of 
winter are a factor in the spread of AI.  Local authorities were 
reportedly urged to conduct the second vaccination campaign for this 
year, disinfect high-risk areas, and strictly control trading and 
transport of poultry and poultry products.  Officials were also 
urged to closely monitor, detect and quickly curb outbreaks 
effectively.  An anti-bird flu month was launched nationwide from 
October 15 to November 15 to raise awareness throughout the 
provinces. 
 
¶4.  (U) According to Thanh Nhien Daily, Director of MARD's Animal 
Breeding Department Nguyen Dang Vang said that seasonal poultry 
breeding was on the rise as farmers meet the demand of the upcoming 
wedding season and the Tet (Lunar New Year) holiday.  According to 
the report, the increased demand for poultry coupled with the recent 
foot and mouth outbreaks in cattle have driven the price for chicken 
products upward.  Mr. Vang also stated that the price of one 
kilogram of processed chicken cost between VND 60,000 to 70,000 in 
Hanoi. 
 
RAND Conducts National-level AI Pandemic Tabletop Exercise 
--------------------------------------------- --------- 
 
¶5.  (SBU) On October 19, the RAND Corporation, sponsored by the 
Department of Human Health and Services (HHS), Center for Disease 
Control (CDC), conducted Vietnam's first national-level AI Pandemic 
Tabletop Exercise at the Ministry of Health (MOH).  Over 60 GVN 
 
HANOI 00002686  002.2 OF 003 
 
 
participants and international observers (including HHS Health 
Attache and Embassy's MEDOff) participated in the tabletop exercise 
for senior-level officials from Ministries of Health, Agriculture 
and Rural Development, Defense, Finance, Public Security, 
Transportation and other agencies.  The exercise involved a human 
H5N1 pandemic scenario that began in neighboring Cambodia and 
involved millions of deaths as it spread throughout Vietnam. 
Logistical issues were discussed openly by the participants, 
including how to transport Tamiflu from storage caches to outbreak 
areas, the need to investigate domestic production of face masks, 
and the need for provincial governments to bear some of the costs of 
emergency response and treatment.  (Comment: MEDOff's observation of 
the tabletop exercise was that it was very effective for those who 
participated and extremely relevant given the current AI situation 
in Vietnam.  End comment.) 
 
Vietnam's Influenza Surveillance System Up and Running 
--------------------------------------------- --------- 
 
¶6.  (SBU) The MOH has established the National Influenza 
Surveillance System with support from HHS/CDC and the WHO.  After 
nearly a year of technical assistance and discussions concerning 
sample transfer sensitivity issues, the MOH working with WHO/Vietnam 
successfully sent human influenza specimens that were collected over 
the past year by the surveillance program from Hanoi to one of the 
four WHO Global Collaborating Centers, CDC in Atlanta.  In addition, 
the MOH has joined FluNet(http://gamapserver.who.int/ 
GlobalAtlas/home.asp).  FluNet was developed in collaboration with 
the Institute for Medical Research and Health, Paris, France.  The 
WHO links national influenza centers and collaborating centers for 
global influenza surveillance through FluNet. 
 
World Bank AI Emergency Recovery Project 
---------------------------------------- 
 
¶7.  (SBU) The GVN and UNDP seeks to establish a formal international 
partnership for Avian and Human Influenza in Vietnam.  The UNDP has 
drafted a "Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) Between the Socialist 
Republic of Vietnam and International Partners Concerning the 
Establishment of the Vietnam Partnership for Avian and Human 
Pandemic Influenza (PAHI)," which appears to be a non-binding 
partnership agreement, and has invited relevant donors to a signing 
ceremony tentatively scheduled November 1, 2006.  Legal experts from 
the Department, USAID and HHS are currently reviewing the draft MOU 
and will pass any comments via the Embassy to UNDP. 
 
World Bank AI Emergency Recovery Project 
---------------------------------------- 
 
¶8.  (SBU) On October 13, 2006, the World Bank hosted an informal 
meeting of international partners to discuss the evaluation of a 
World Bank-supported, 
two-year Avian Influenza Emergency Recovery Project (AIEPR) and 
introduce a follow-up multi-year effort, the Vietnam Avian and Human 
Influenza Control and Preparedness Project (VAHIP). 
 
¶9.  (SBU) AIERP focused on several components: strengthening disease 
diagnosis and surveillance capacity (provision of training and 
equipment), poultry sub-sector rehabilitation (small holder 
restocking and policy), and public awareness.  All components were 
guided by concurrent studies.  Data-derived lessons include the 
commune-based surveillance is valuable; live-stock restructuring 
 
HANOI 00002686  003.2 OF 003 
 
 
should be focused on decreasing the risk of animal disease; more 
robust monitoring and evaluation is needed; and better coordination 
of international technical assistance would lead to greater 
efficiency.  Project veterinary laboratories need more training (and 
not more equipment); restocking is extremely complicated (where 
flexibility during implementation is critical); and behavioral 
modification of farmers and those in industry is the effective 
target for public awareness efforts. 
 
¶10.  (SBU) The proposed new USD 36 million VAHIP project is aligned 
with the Green Book and carries forward the following underlying 
principle: to link activities to a broader agenda to strengthen the 
capacity of the sector to detect, control, and respond to avian 
influenza and other emerging infectious diseases.  It consists of 
three components: animal health and production (control source of 
avian influenza) including introducing best practices more widely 
throughout the supply chain; human health (detect and respond to 
human cases); and project management and capacity building (overall 
and includes preparing for the medical consequences of a human 
pandemic).  The project is intended to be integrated (MARD and MOH), 
decentralized (implementation at the provincial level with 
monitoring and evaluation at the central level), blended (50 percent 
grant and 50 percent IDA Credit (i.e., re-allocation of "cancelled" 
IDA funds), and multi-donor sponsored (co-financing from, for 
example, UN, World Bank, European Commission (Multi-donor Trust 
Funds-AHITF) and Government of Japan (PHRD Grant) and possible 
parallel financing (NZAid and AFD). 
 
¶11.  (SBU) The proposed animal health component is intended to be 
targeted, science-based and practical.  Various principles include 
reducing the control-cost over time, changing industry practice, 
conducting minimal culling with ring vaccination in the setting of 
clusters, and minimizing the economic impact on poor and rural 
communities.  The human component will address improving the 
technical quality and functioning of the surveillance system; 
improving the technical quality and efficiency of curative care 
preparedness; strengthening communication for behavior change in 
health care staff; and piloting approaches to improving health 
sector performance in the provinces and districts.  The schedule to 
mobilize the VAHIP project is accelerated: selection of provinces 
(by October 27), review (by November 16), UNDP appraisals (by 
November 27), Government of Vietnam approval (early December), and 
negotiations (by December 14). 
 
MARINE