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RUEHSUN/USUN ROME IT

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 04 HANOI 000508 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE FOR AMBASSADOR MARK DYBUL 
STATE FOR EAP/MLS, EAP/EP, INR, OES/STC, OES/IHA, OGAC 
STATE PASS TO USAID FOR ANE AND GH 
HHS/OSSI/DSI PASS TO OGHA (WSTEIGER/LVALDEZ/CHICKEY/KMCLEAN), 
SAMHSA, FIC/NIH (RGLASS), AND FDA (MLUMPKIN/MPLAISIER) 
CDC FOR COGH (SBLOUNT/JGERBERDING/MCOHEN/DBIRX) 
BANGKOK FOR REO (JWALLER), USAID (RWHELDON/CBOWES/MACARTHUR/MBRADY) 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: TBIO KPAO KFLU KHIV VM
SUBJECT: DHHS SECRETARY LEAVITT FOCUSES ON PRODUCT SAFETY, INFLUENZA 
AND HIV/AIDS DURING VISIT TO HANOI 
 
HANOI 00000508  001.2 OF 004 
 
 
¶1. (SBU) Summary.  During his visit to Hanoi, U.S. Health and Human 
Services Secretary Michael Leavitt successfully advocated for the 
United States and Vietnam to draft a Memorandum of Understanding 
(MOU) on product safety in preparation for the upcoming visit to the 
United States by Vietnamese Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung.  In 
meetings with the Government of Vietnam (GVN) and with Vietnamese 
public health students and the American Chamber of Commerce in 
Hanoi, Secretary Leavitt emphasized the need for Vietnam, with U.S. 
assistance, to take proactive measures to protect the "Made in 
Vietnam" brand.  In meetings with the Ministry of Agriculture and 
Rural Development (MARD), the Ministry of Health (MOH), and the 
Prime Minister, Leavitt thanked Vietnamese Government for its 
continued sharing of animal and human samples of the H5N1 strain of 
highly pathogenic avian influenza and urged the GVN to maintain this 
posture.  Secretary Leavitt also advocated for Vietnam to adopt 
rapid testing for HIV confirmatory diagnosis, and urged the GVN to 
ensure that its new drug law allows for the use of 
medication-assisted therapy for injecting-drug users.  Vietnamese 
and foreign journalists closely followed the Secretary Leavitt 
visit, and media coverage, both domestically and internationally, 
was extensive and positive.  End Summary. 
 
Secretary Leavitt Stresses Food Safety at MARD 
--------------------------------------------- - 
 
¶2. (SBU) During his meeting with MARD Vice Minister Bui Ba Bong, 
Secretary Leavitt focused on the need for the GVN to protect the 
"Made in Vietnam" brand, particularly for the country's growing food 
exports.  Secretary Leavitt explained that recent publicity in the 
United States surrounding sub-standard products from the People's 
Republic of China and Honduras have caused concern among American 
consumers, and affected exports from those countries.  He stressed 
that the United States wants to work with Vietnam on joint efforts 
to heighten vigilance on food safety, while assisting the country to 
upgrade and improve its food-safety laws.  In light of Prime 
Minister Dung's planned visit to the United States, Secretary 
Leavitt suggested the two nations set up a working group to craft an 
MOU on product safety, which would focus on Vietnamese exports of 
food, drugs, medical devices, and (possibly) animal feed.  The 
Secretary proposed that he and the Vietnamese Minister of Health 
could sign the MOU during the Prime Minister's visit to Washington 
in June.  Secretary Leavitt also outlined President Bush's Action 
Plan for Import Safety and stated that the USG planned to focus on a 
systems approach, which increasingly could rely on the independent 
certification of compliance with international standards as a means 
to streamline the entry of imports, while maintaining food-safety 
protections that the American public expects.  As this process 
develops, the Secretary explained, the United States will give 
priority to imports independently certified as safe, perhaps by 
entities accredited, but not operated, by the USG.  Vice Minister 
Bong, who noted that 20 to 25 percent of Vietnam's agricultural 
exports go to the United States, agreed with the Secretary's 
suggestions on independent certification and the desirability of an 
MOU. 
 
¶3. (SBU) Secretary Leavitt stressed U.S. appreciation for Vietnam's 
transparent and regular sharing of animal and human influenza 
samples of the H5N1 strain of highly pathogenic avian influenza, 
which are crucial to international efforts to prevent a pandemic. 
Vice Minister Bong reaffirmed the GVN's commitment to share samples 
and acknowledged strong assistance from U.S. Agency for 
International Development and HHS to Vietnam's efforts to combat 
avian influenza, particularly its attempts to develop a sustainable, 
 
HANOI 00000508  002.2 OF 004 
 
 
long-term strategy.  Vice Minister Bong also reviewed the GVN's 
goals to increase biotechnology, including an Agricultural 
Biotechnology Program for 2006 to 2015, and the Prime Minister's 
recent approval of guidelines for field trials of biotech crops. 
 
Secretary Leavitt Focuses on Quality Assurance 
With American Chamber of Commerce 
--------------------------------- 
 
¶4. (SBU) Secretary Leavitt again stressed the need for building 
quality and safety into every step of the supply chain in a 
presentation to the Hanoi Chapter of the American Chamber of 
Commerce.  Reviewing China's recent problems, and the immediate 
impact on consumer perceptions in the United States of Chinese 
products, the Secretary urged the Vietnamese Government and industry 
to take a proactive stance on product safety, to avoid letting one 
or a few adverse events define the nation's exports and damage the 
"Made in Vietnam" brand.  The Secretary stressed the issues of 
product safety are not unique to the United States or Vietnam, and 
emphasized that the USG continues to work with our partners in the 
global market to ensure adequate food supplies within a sustainable 
safety system.  Instead of focusing on border controls, he 
indicated, governments need to work with the private sector to build 
quality into every step of the process, including by using 
independent certification to streamline the export process and speed 
products into U.S. markets. 
 
Secretary Leavitt Reviews Product Safety, Sample-Sharing, and Rapid 
Testing for HIV with Minister of Health 
--------------------------------------------- - 
 
¶5. (SBU) At the Ministry of Health, Secretary Leavitt again 
emphasized the importance of product safety, especially in the 
context of the rapid growth in trade between the United States and 
Vietnam.  The Secretary stressed the United States wanted to work 
with the GVN and Vietnamese industry to protect the reputation of 
Vietnamese exports.  In the context of Prime Minister Dung's 
upcoming visit, the Secretary suggested an MOU between the two 
countries to promote the safety and quality of food, drugs, medical 
devices, and animal feed.  As a starting point, the Secretary 
proposed that both nations could identify working teams to begin 
developing this agreement as soon as possible. 
 
¶6. (SBU) Secretary Leavitt praised Vietnam's great progress in the 
fight against HIV/AIDS, and highlighted the rapid growth of 
assistance to the country under the President's Emergency Plan for 
AIDS Relief, which in funding has increased from USD 17 million in 
FY 2004 to USD 88 million in FY 2008.  The Secretary noted USG 
support for the provision of methadone to injecting-drug users, to 
reduce heroin consumption, limit the exposure to and transmission of 
HIV, and assist in addiction treatment. He advocated for the GVN to 
draft its new drug law to ensure it permits medication-assisted 
therapy and a comprehensive, community-based approach to addiction 
treatment. 
 
¶7. (SBU) Secretary Leavitt also suggested that the GVN allow the use 
of rapid testing technologies to confirm HIV diagnosis, which, in 
response to a question from Minister Trieu, the Secretary described 
as reliable, accurate, and more likely to result in referrals of 
HIV-infected individuals to care and treatment.  Minister Trieu 
agreed to support methadone programs, while MOH senior staff in the 
Ministry agreed to cooperate with the United States on rapid 
testing, though they focused on its potential for screening in 
 
HANOI 00000508  003.2 OF 004 
 
 
national blood-donation campaigns.  (Comment: the Secretary's appeal 
on rapid testing prompted a long colloquy between the Minister and 
members of his senior staff.  In responding to Secretary Leavitt, 
Minister Trieu made a point of mentioning needle-exchange as a 
method of prevention he was encouraging, a dig at the inability of 
the USG to fund such programs.  End comment.) 
 
¶8. (SBU) Secretary Leavitt noted the similarity between Vietnam's 
health priorities and U.S. goals.  The Secretary reinforced his 
earlier message to Vice Minister Bong at MARD and congratulated 
Minister Trieu on GVN's policy to continue to share all samples from 
all human cases of the H5N1 strain of avian influenza -- a major 
contribution to the global success in containing the dangerous virus 
so far.  The Secretary pointed to the GVN's ability to enforce its 
new mandatory helmet law and its swift response to outbreaks of 
avian influenza as demonstrations of its commitment to progress in 
health.  To further boost health cooperation between the two 
countries, Secretary Leavitt invited Minister Trieu to visit the 
USNS Mercy during its June 2008 port call in Nha Trang, during which 
time Vietnamese and American doctors will provide a wide variety of 
health-care interventions to approximately 10,000 local patients 
over 11 days.  Minister Trieu accepted the offer to visit the USNS 
Mercy and the proposal to provide training on new technologies. 
 
¶9. (SBU) Noting that the GVN had assigned the MOH to manage food 
safety, Minister Nguyen Quoc Trieu agreed on the necessity of 
completing an MOU on product safety, which he judged as consistent 
with the GVN's plans for substantial investments in food safety to 
meet international standards and to meet the expectations of its 
trade partners.  Minister Trieu praised U.S. health assistance to 
his country pursuant to the bilateral Agreement on Health and 
Medical Science his predecessor and Secretary Leavitt signed in 
Washington in July 2006, and he singled out HHS efforts on 
influenza, along with activities by U.S. non-governmental 
organizations, Operation Smile (on the surgical repair of persons 
with cleft palates) and the Atlantic Philanthropies (on dengue). 
 
Secretary Leavitt Engages Vietnamese 
Public Health Students 
------------------------------------ 
 
¶10. (U) At the Hanoi School of Public Health, Secretary Leavitt 
spoke to a diverse body of several hundred students about the 
commitment of the United States to health in Vietnam and expressed 
his belief in their country's ability to develop an effective system 
to manage the threat of infectious diseases in the context of 
increased globalization.  In an hour-long question-and-answer 
session, several students posed queries about the U.S. health-care 
system, the characteristics of a successful public-health strategy, 
U.S. dioxin-related assistance to Vietnam, and Secretary Leavitt's 
goals for this visit.  (Comment:  The session was remarkably open, 
personal, and candid.  Unexpectedly, Minister Trieu attended and 
stayed for the whole session.  Several members of the audience 
asked, with a mix of wonder and curiosity, why the Secretary wanted 
to speak with students.  Other young people in the crowd, which was 
approximately 80 percent female, inquired about the Secretary's 
family, and sought career advice from him.  When the secretary told 
the students he had five children, the crowd waited for the reaction 
of Minister Trieu, and applauded enthusiastically after he began to 
clap.  End comment.) 
 
Secretary Leavitt and Prime Minister Dung 
Agree on Product-Safety MOU 
 
HANOI 00000508  004.2 OF 004 
 
 
--------------------------- 
 
¶11. (SBU) Secretary Leavitt and Prime Minister Dung agreed their two 
governments should begin work on an MOU on product safety, and Prime 
Minister Dung tasked Minister of Health Trieu to work with HHS to 
prepare a draft agreement for signature during his June visit.  Both 
the Secretary and the Prime Minister agreed on the importance of 
proactive steps to maintain the reputation of the Vietnamese brand 
as bilateral trade continues to increase.  Secretary Leavitt again 
thanked Prime Minister Dung for Vietnamese leadership on the sharing 
of influenza samples.  The Prime Minister noted his appreciation for 
support under the President's Emergency Plan to Vietnam's response 
to HIV/AIDS and asked for continued U.S. support for people affected 
by dioxin contamination (Note: some local press outlets reported 
this inaccurately as a request for continued assistance to "Agent 
Orange Victims.") 
 
Comment 
------- 
 
¶12. (SBU) On major health issues, the United States and Vietnam are 
on the same page, and Secretary Leavitt's visit helped ensure we 
remain so.  The Secretary and his Vietnamese counterparts noted the 
many areas of ongoing cooperation, particularly HIV/AIDS and 
influenza.  Vietnamese officials agreed to Secretary Leavitt's 
proposal to negotiate an MOU on product safety, which the GVN sees 
as a means to protect the country's growing food exports to the 
United States and to improve capacity to assure the safety of food 
products, both for exports and for those destined for domestic 
consumption.  Such an MOU would supplement ongoing U.S. assistance 
to the GVN as it drafts a new food-safety law and would build upon 
negotiations between the HHS Food and Drug Administration and MARD 
towards an exchange of letters to create a protocol for safe exports 
of Vietnamese fish and seafood to the Untied States. 
 
¶13. (SBU) Additionally, the Secretary can claim two successes in the 
Ministry of Health's positive responses to the Secretary's advocacy 
on behalf of rapid, confirmatory testing for HIV infection and the 
need to ensure that the new Vietnamese drug-control laws permit 
medication-assisted therapy and community-based treatment for 
injecting-drug users.  Follow-through will be important, but, as 
with the Secretary's advocacy during his last visit to Vietnam, in 
October 2005, of the use of generic anti-retroviral drugs (a 
position the GVN subsequently adopted), these conversations 
demonstrate the value of high-level U.S. Government interventions on 
public policy here.  End comment.] 
 
¶14. (U) Secretary Leavitt's delegation has cleared this cable. 
 
MICHALAK