VZCZCXYZ0004
RR RUEHWEB

DE RUEHEG #2291/01 3071219
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 021219Z NOV 08
FM AMEMBASSY CAIRO
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 0767
INFO RUEHJA/AMEMBASSY JAKARTA 0135
RUEHOS/AMCONSUL LAGOS 0078
RUEHGV/USMISSION GENEVA 0402

UNCLAS CAIRO 002291 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: EAGR EAID EG KFLU PREL TBIO WHO
SUBJECT: UNDER SECRETARY DOBRIANSKY'S MEETING WITH EGYPTIAN 
MINISTER OF HEALTH AND POPULATION 
 
¶1. (U) Summary. In a meeting on the margins of the 6th 
International Ministerial Conference on Avian and Pandemic 
Influenza, Egyptian Minister of Health and Population Hatem 
El Gabaly reviewed for U/S Paula Dobriansky his support for 
an international agreement to coordinate efforts for 
influenza virus sharing and vaccine development, and concerns 
about stagnant international organizations and avian 
influenza in Africa. End summary. 
 
¶2. (SBU) On October 25, on the margins of the 6th 
International Ministerial Conference on Avian and Pandemic 
Influenza in Sharm El Sheikh, Minister of Health El Gabaly 
met with U/S Dobriansky accompanied by Ambassador John Lange, 
Dr. Daniel Miller (HHS) and representatives of Embassy Cairo. 
 El Gabaly described his vision for an international 
agreement on principles to address policy issues related to 
avian influenza virus sharing to be signed by both developed 
and developing countries. Those principles would be: 1) equal 
rights for all countries to acquire a pandemic vaccine; and 
2) sharing of virus samples between countries affected by the 
virus and countries that produce the vaccine.  He believed 
such an agreement would address concerns of countries such as 
Indonesia that view U.S. policies as unfair and inequitable. 
He was confident that the Indonesians would support such an 
initiative. 
 
¶3. (U) El Gabaly said it was important for international 
donors to focus more on Africa and to establish a WHO 
Collaborating Center in Africa beyond the WHO centers already 
established in Australia, Japan, UK and U.S. (HHS/CDC 
Atlanta).  He indicated that African countries trust the GOE 
and that Egypt has already provided doctors to African 
countries in fields such as combating malaria.  U/S 
Dobriansky agreed that Egypt can play a great role in 
bringing Africa into the AI effort. 
 
¶4. (SBU) El Gabaly described international organizations, 
such as the WHO, as stagnant and said they need a "shake up" 
in the same way that financial institutions have had to 
reevaluate their operations during difficult times.  He 
proposed that Egypt and the U.S. address the issue of 
enforcing discipline in international organizations such as 
the WHO, which he considers excessively bureaucratic and 
politically stagnant.  He complained that WHO activities in 
Egypt, such as workshops and seminars, have had a minimal 
impact and are not an efficient use of resources.  El Gabaly 
said he was disappointed in the relationship between the WHO 
and GOE in Cairo and in the organization as a whole.  U/S 
Dobriansky agreed to carry El Gabaly's message back to 
Washington and indicated that the U.S. will try to coordinate 
with Egypt in its efforts. 
 
¶5. (SBU) Noting that, at the last G8 Summit, countries 
pledged $60 million to the development of health services in 
Africa, El Gabaly asked about the current status of donor 
assistance in the health sector and expressed his concern 
that no action to program the pledged G8 funds has been taken 
as of yet.  He reiterated Egypt's ability to make a 
difference in Africa.  U/S Dobriansky responded that health 
was indeed an important area for the G8 countries and that 
health ministers have been working together on the issue 
since the summit.  She highlighted USAID's role in the health 
sector in Africa, but agreed that other members of the G8 
have not been as active.  Dr. Miller told El Gabaly that the 
agency is fully supportive of the G8 initiative and has been 
focused on the expansion of current activities such as PEPFAR 
training programs.  He stated that existing mechanisms and 
channels should also be embraced as opportunities for 
expanding influence. 
 
¶6. (U) El Gabaly highlighted the importance of women's issues 
and Egypt's role in providing training to physicians and 
health personnel through the Suzanne Mubarak Regional Center 
for Women,s Health and Development in Alexandria.  Groups 
from all over Africa are trained in Egypt.  El Gabaly argued 
that the center's activities are in line with HHS objectives, 
and suggested HHS could tackle more issues if it looked at 
existing resources in Egypt such as the center.  He mentioned 
that Egypt will host a global conference on gender equality 
in 2010 and hopes to make a formal announcement shortly. 
 
¶7. (U) In light of the current financial crisis, Minister El 
Gabaly expressed his concerns about potential impacts beyond 
the financial sector.  If current problems are not examined 
and addressed, then "AAA institutions are going to become 
FFF."  Reform of international organizations should be 
focused on revising organization charters, military order, 
finances, and organization size.  He believes that when the 
U.S. and Egypt work together, they have more influence on 
outcomes.  He also believes that the U.S. has played a 
 
significant role in aligning world views on AI since the 
December 2007 New Delhi conference and in preparing for the 
Sharm el-Sheikh conference by embracing lessons learned.  U/S 
Dobriansky stated that the U.S. will continue to support the 
GOE in its efforts. 
 
¶8. (SBU) Note:  In a meeting that also included Minister of 
Agriculture Abaza and that took place shortly before he met 
with U/S Dobriansky, El Gabaly told Ambassador Lange, UN 
System Influenza Coordinator David Nabarro, WHO Assistant 
Director General Paul Gully, and ministerial or 
sub-ministerial representatives from Indonesia, Namibia, 
Malawi and Mauritania, that Egypt is willing to mediate the 
dispute between the developing and the developed world over 
the sharing of viruses and benefits.  He proposed that 
delegates meet and agree, by the end of the conference on 
October 26, on an international agreement/framework under a 
UN umbrella to coordinate efforts for influenza virus sharing 
and vaccine development.  He said that benefits such as 
vaccines should be distributed on an equal basis.  Nabarro 
told El Gabaly that any such effort needed to be 
"synchronized" with the process already underway that is 
leading up to the WHO meeting in December.  Ambassador Lange 
discussed the ongoing talks between Indonesia and the U.S, 
the two nations at the center of the dispute, and the 
importance of the WHO Intergovernmental Meeting in December 
in Geneva.  Indonesia's Bayu Krisnamurthi stressed the 
importance of increasing vaccine production capacity and of 
early detection, surveillance and response.  Subsequent 
meetings on the margins of the conference on this subject 
were inconclusive, as most countries in attendance preferred 
to leave the virus/sample sharing issue to the WHO forum. 
The GOE, in its concluding document, Vision for the Future, 
highlighted the importance of resolving the issue in the 
December meeting at WHO.  End note. 
 
¶9. (U) This cable has been cleared by U/S Dobriansky. 
SCOBEY