VZCZCXRO5377
RR RUEHBC RUEHDA RUEHDE RUEHIHL RUEHKUK
DE RUEHGB #1517 1361531
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 151531Z MAY 08 ZDK
FM AMEMBASSY BAGHDAD
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 7393
INFO RUCNRAQ/IRAQ COLLECTIVE

UNCLAS BAGHDAD 001517 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958:  N/A 
TAGS: PGOV PREL SOCI TBIO EAID IZ
SUBJECT:  PRT SALAH AD DIN:  CDC HOLDS FIRST TRAINING 
COURSE IN IRAQ 
 
¶1.  (U) This is a PRT Salah ad Din reporting cable. 
 
¶2.  (U) SUMMARY:  At the instigation of the Salah ad Din Provincial 
Reconstruction Team (PRT), CDC has conducted its first training 
course in Iraq, which was enthusiastically received by Iraqi medical 
professionals.  END SUMMARY. 
 
¶3.  (U) PRT Salah ad Din shared in the success of the first Field 
Epidemiology Training Program (FETP) course offered by the U.S. 
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in Iraq since 
liberation.  Drawing on its close ties to CDC, the PRT's Health 
section had strongly encouraged CDC to sponsor this training in Iraq 
in preparation for the upcoming cholera season. 
 
¶4.  (U) The eight-day course began on Tuesday, April 27 at the Al 
Rasheed Hotel in Baghdad and was opened by the Minister of Health, 
the WHO representative for Iraq, and the U.S. Embassy's Health 
Attach.  Forty-two of the 45 invited health professionals attended 
- an outstanding level of turnout that reflected the great thirst 
for learning within the Iraqi medical profession.  The Director 
General of Health for Salah ad Din province has quickly endorsed 
this course, understanding its importance; he nominated eight health 
professionals to attend - the largest number of participants from 
any province besides Baghdad.  Lectures and exercises were conducted 
by faculty from the Iraq Ministry of Health, the U.S. Naval Medical 
Research Unit (NAMRU), the World Health Organization, and CDC. 
 
¶5.  (U) CDC's FETP is designed to improve the skill sets of health 
professionals in disease outbreak investigations and response 
capabilities - ideally targeted at the local and provincial levels. 
This training came at an opportune time as Iraq enters what is 
normally a season when various diseases break out, including 
cholera.  Participants learned about disease surveillance systems, 
data-collection, organization, and analysis, and presentation of 
those findings.  They also learned the process to identify the 
potential source of an outbreak, the possible means of transmission, 
and perhaps most importantly how to recommend measures to control 
the outbreak. 
 
¶6.  (U) COMMENT: Overall the participants were very enthusiastic; 
the Iraqis' thirst for new knowledge was exemplified by a 10:30 p.m. 
visit from the Minister of Health to observe the teams working on an 
exercise.  The following day, the Minister returned with a large 
group of media to attend the closing ceremony.  The course also 
provided an opportunity for discussion of establishing a sustainable 
FETP in Iraq in the near future.  As in other countries, a pyramidal 
approach to establishing this program is planned, and will consist 
of short courses such as the one just completed, more in-depth 
courses of intermediate duration (several months) with more field 
emphasis, and the classic 2-year FETP based on the concept of 
"training through service." END COMMENT. 
 
CROCKER