VZCZCXRO9172
PP RUEHLH RUEHPW
DE RUEHKP #0520/01 2540618
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P 100618Z SEP 08
FM AMCONSUL KARACHI
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 0629
INFO RUEHIL/AMEMBASSY ISLAMABAD 0100
RUEHNE/AMEMBASSY NEW DELHI 1768
RUEHLH/AMCONSUL LAHORE 2580
RUEHPW/AMCONSUL PESHAWAR 4463
RUEAUSA/DEPT OF HHS WASHINGTON DC

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 KARACHI 000520 
 
SENSITIVE 
AIDAC 
SIPDIS 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: TBIO EAID PGOV PK SOCI KOCI PK
SUBJECT:  KARACHI - SECRETARY LEAVITT MEETS WITH AGA KHAN OFFICIALS 
 
¶1.  (U) Summary:  Secretary of Health and Human Services Michael 
Leavitt met with senior Aga Khan University (AKU) faculty and 
administration members during his August 20 visit to Karachi.  AKU 
officials discussed nursing programs and Pakistan's ongoing efforts 
to train health care professionals.  The officials were concerned 
about the immigration of educated health care professionals from 
developing countries to the U.S.  The university's provost called 
for closer ties to U.S. institutions and pointed out Pakistan's 
attractiveness as a locale for clinical research.  End summary. 
 
¶2.  (U) On August 20, Secretary of Health and Human Services Michael 
Leavitt held meetings with administrators and faculty members at Aga 
Khan University (AKU) in Karachi.  After a lunch with senior AKU 
officials, including university President Firoz Rasul, Provost 
William Doe and Board Chair Ambassador Saidullah Khan Dehlavi, he 
met with around 40 senior faculty and staff members.  Nairobi AKU 
officials participated in this session via conference call.  Later 
in the afternoon, the Secretary held a private meeting with nine 
National Institutes of Health (NIH) grant recipients. 
 
Nursing Needs 
------------- 
 
¶3.  (SBU)  AKU officials told the Secretary that, over its 25 year 
history, AKU had elevated the status of nursing in Pakistan, which 
had traditionally been regarded as a low status occupation.  The 
university, President Rasul explained, offers a traditional nursing 
education program and has partnered with international universities, 
such as McMaster University in Ontario, Canada, to offer a doctorate 
degree in nursing. 
 
¶4.  (SBU) AKU also has a program in East Africa to advance the 
education of trained nurses of varying skill levels.  This program 
includes an emphasis on leadership development for health care 
professionals.  The university has begun emphasizing midwife 
training and is overseeing USAID funded prenatal and child health 
projects in Afghanistan.  AKU has trained nurses from a number of 
other countries, including Egypt and Syria, and has become a role 
model for other developing countries, said Rasul. 
 
¶5.  (SBU) Secretary Leavitt pointed out that limited university 
capacity has contributed to a shortage of trained nurses.  To 
address that problem, he stated that some U.S. hospitals educate 
nurses in-house who are then accredited by educational institutions 
based on the trainees' medical competencies.  The internet could be 
used as a tool for the delivery of content based coursework to 
health care providers, he added.  The Secretary stated that U.S. 
nursing programs focus on training nurses at various levels of 
expertise to meet community needs. 
 
¶6.  (SBU) Provost Doe said that discovering the needs of rural areas 
and then adapting technology and training that will work there has 
been a successful strategy in Pakistan.  As an example, he described 
a drop in infant mortality that resulted from providing instruction 
to traditional birth attendants. 
 
¶7.  (SBU) One NIH grant recipient later explained to the Secretary 
that Pakistan's needs were the opposite of U.S. needs.  Pakistan has 
long had many less skilled nurses working in rural areas, such as 
those that finish six month or one year training courses.  The 
country is still in need of professionally educated nurses who have 
completed a full course of study, she added. 
 
Loss of Talent Worrying 
----------------------- 
 
¶8.  (SBU) One AKU faculty member (later echoed by an AKU official in 
Nairobi) lamented the loss of Pakistani medical professionals who 
stay in the U.S. after completing their education there.  The 
faculty member asked the Secretary to consider holding regional 
classes and seminars, possibly in conjunction with AKU, to avoid 
giving medical professionals the chance to remain outside of 
Pakistan.  The Secretary said that he supported plans to increase 
regional training activities and hoped to develop a closer 
relationship with AKU during his visit to move forward that goal. 
However, he cautioned that some programs required access to things 
that could not be transported, such as U.S. clinical settings.  The 
USG will always welcome education in the U.S. as an important 
component of comprehensive training programs. 
 
Call for Closer Ties to U.S. Institutions 
----------------------------------------- 
 
¶9.  (SBU)  Referencing a new AKU joint degree program with Kabul 
University for pediatricians and surgeons, Provost Doe called for 
closer collaboration between AKU and U.S. institutions.  He declared 
that Pakistan, with its rich variety of diseases and a large 
population, many of whom have never taken antibiotics, is fertile 
 
KARACHI 00000520  002 OF 002 
 
 
ground for clinical research involving international institutions. 
 
 
¶10.  (SBU) USG officials attending the AKU meetings: 
 
-HHS Secretary Michael Leavitt 
-Consul General Kay Anske 
-William Steiger, Special Assistant to Secretary Leavitt 
-Allyson Bell, Director of Department of Health and Human Services 
(DHHS) Scheduling and Advance 
-Mark Abdoo, Director, Office of Multilateral Affairs, DHHS 
-Altaf Lal, DHHS Attache, New Delhi 
-Kathleen McDonald, USAID, Embassy Islamabad 
-Tim Hall, Pol/Econ Officer, Consulate General Karachi 
 
¶11.  (U) This cable has not been cleared by Secretary Leavitt. 
 
ANSKE