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C O N F I D E N T I A L STATE 072005 
 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 07/02/2018 
TAGS: BR CI EAID EINV ENRG ETTC JA LI MZ NO SG SOCI TZ
SUBJECT: JOINT LETTER TO G8 ON MATERNAL HEALTH AND INFANT 
MORTALITY 
 
Classified By: EEB PDAS DAVID D. NELSON.  REASON 1.4 (B) AND (D). 
 
¶1. (C)  Summary:  Norway,s Charge d,Affaires Aud Kolberg 
met EEB PDAS David Nelson July 2 to present a letter (text in 
para 7) from leaders of Norway and six other countries to 
Japanese Prime Minister Fukuda urging Japan to lead the G8 in 
devoting greater attention and funding to combating maternal 
and child mortality.  PDAS Nelson assured Kolberg that G8 
leaders would highlight the need for such action in the 
Summit declaration on Development and Africa.  He told 
Kolberg that food security, climate change, and health would 
be among the main issues discussed at the July 7-9 G8 Summit. 
 Finally, PDAS Nelson expressed concern about reports we had 
received that an Iranian gas field in which the Norwegian 
state oil firm Statoil reportedly has invested may soon start 
production.  Kolberg promised to follow up with Oslo and 
report back.  End Summary 
 
¶2.    (U)  Norwegian Charge d,Affaires Aud Kolberg met July 
2 with EEB PDAS David Nelson to present a letter signed by 
Norwegian Prime Minister Stoltenberg, Chilean President 
Bachelet, Brazilian President Lula, Liberian President 
Johnson Sirleaf, Mozambican President Guebuza, Senegalese 
President Wade, Tanzanian President Kikwete, and Ms. Graca 
Machel.  The letter to Japanese Prime Minister Fukuda, as the 
host of the July 7-9 G8 Summit in Toyako Japan, urges strong 
action by the G8 to achieve the Millennium Development Goals 
(MDGs) related to reducing infant mortality and improving 
maternal health.  Kolberg said this initiative was &close to 
the Prime Minister,s heart8 given his longstanding interest 
in improving the quality of health care and indicators in the 
developing world. 
 
¶3.    (U)  PDAS Nelson thanked Kolberg for sharing the letter 
with us and noted that UN Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon and 
U.K. Prime Minister Brown would be hosting a high-level 
meeting in New York on September 25 to review progress in 
achieving the MDGs.  EEB/ODF Director Christopher Webster 
added that the G8,s Development and Africa Declaration to be 
issued at the conclusion of the Summit reiterates the 
importance of meeting the MDGs on child mortality and 
maternal health.  Kolberg was pleased to hear this news. 
 
¶4.    (U)  Responding to Kolberg,s questions about this 
year,s G8 priorities, PDAS Nelson stated that food security, 
climate change, and health would be the most prominent issues 
discussed.  The outcome of the food security discussions was 
expected to be consistent with the three-pillar U.S. approach 
outlined by President Bush on May 1 ) food assistance to 
meet immediate humanitarian needs, liberalization of 
agricultural trade by concluding an ambitious Doha Round 
Agreement and working to eliminate market distorting measures 
by countries with food surpluses, and promoting investments 
to stimulate food production and transport, including greater 
reliance on biotechnology.  On climate change, the G8 
discussions would complement the discussions that would occur 
in the Major Economies Leaders Meeting to follow immediately 
after the G8 Summit. 
 
¶5.    (C)  Closing the meeting, PDAS Nelson expressed concern 
about reports we had received that an Iranian gas field in 
which Statoil reportedly has invested may soon start 
production.  He said that these reports troubled senior State 
Department officials and anticipated that U/S Burns would be 
questioned about them when he testifies before Congress next 
week on Iran.  Statoil actions would have to be closely 
reviewed in the light of Iran Sanctions Act requirements. 
Kolberg undertook to get information from Oslo and report 
back. 
 
¶6.    (U)  Norwegian Embassy First Secretary Mattis Raustol 
accompanied the Norwegian Charge.  Stephen Wheeler from 
EUR/NB also attended. 
 
¶7.    (U)  Text of Letter: 
 
Begin Text 
 
Dear Prime Minister Fukuda: 
 
In 2000, at the Okinawa G8 Summit, Japan launched the Okinawa 
Infectious Disease Initiative.  This highlighted the urgency 
of responding to the communicable disease burden facing many 
developing countries.  It set out a new ambitious vision of 
the possible and helped to shape the development assistance 
agenda in the years ahead.  Looking back at the eight years 
since Okinawa we see unprecedented levels of commitment to 
respond to that challenge and substantial investment through 
a number of initiatives including the Global Funds to fight 
AIDS, TB and Malaria (GFATM). 
 
This effort has delivered impressive results.  Development 
spending on health increased from USD 6 billion in 2000 to 
USD 14 billion in 2005.  In addition, this year we expect to 
see, for the first time, USD 10 billion spent on the response 
to AIDS.  As a result, more than two million people are now 
receiving AIDS treatment, tuberculosis rates are stabilizing 
across much of the world, polio is closer to eradication than 
at any time in human history, measles deaths have fallen by 
70%, and malaria is being pushed back in many countries. 
 
Sadly we have not seen the same progress in addressing other 
health and development priorities.  This is particularly so 
as regards reducing child mortality (MDG 4) and reducing the 
number of women who die during pregnancy and childbirth (MDG 
5), an area where there has been little progress over the 
last 20 years.  Yet everyone agrees that urgent action is 
needed to prevent millions of children and their mothers 
dying needlessly each year. 
 
At the halfway point to 2015 we need to take stock.  To look 
where we are making a difference and where we must intensify 
our collective effort if we are to realize the Millennium 
Development Goals.  Last September saw the launch of the 
Global Campaign for the Health Related MDGs ) a movement to 
refocus and accelerate international efforts, to get us back 
on track to meet the MDGs by 2015 and to deliver on the 
world,s promise to the weakest and the most vulnerable. 
 
In July this year Japan will again host the G8 summit.  As 
you yourself have pointed out, &among the health-related 
Millennium Development Goals, the issues of safe motherhood 
and health of children under five years of age remain serious 
as before, with some 500,000 pregnant women and 10 million 
children dying annually.8  It is difficult to accept that in 
2008 a woman dies in pregnancy or childbirth every minute. 
 
We now need the same step change in investment in relation to 
MDGs 4 and 5 that we have seen in recent years in relation to 
MDG 6.  Japan,s post-war experience in building community 
health systems shows how countries can improve maternal and 
child health and tackle infectious diseases at the same time. 
 
In 2008 we again look to Japan to lead the G8 in pushing the 
boundaries of the possible, by setting an ambitious agenda 
backed by the level of resources needed to make a difference 
in the seven years remaining to 2015. 
 
Yours sincerely 
 
/s/ 
Michelle Bachelet 
President of Chile 
 
/s/ 
Armando Guebuza 
President of Mozambique 
 
/s/ 
Jakaya Kikwete 
President of Tanzania 
 
/s/ 
Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva 
President of Brazil 
 
/s/ 
Ms. Graca Machel 
 
/s/ 
Ellen Johnson Sirleaf 
President of Liberia 
 
/s/ 
Jens Stoltenberg 
Prime Minister of Norway 
 
/s/ 
Abdoulaye Wade 
President of Senegal 
 
 
RICE