VZCZCXRO0147
PP RUEHDBU RUEHIK RUEHPOD RUEHPW RUEHSL RUEHYG
DE RUEHBUL #2128/01 2111158
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P 301158Z JUL 09
FM AMEMBASSY KABUL
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 0460
INFO RUCNAFG/AFGHANISTAN COLLECTIVE
RUEHZG/NATO EU COLLECTIVE
RUEABND/DEA HQS WASHINGTON DC

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 KABUL 002128 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SENSITIVE 
 
DEPT FOR SRAP, SCA/FO, SCA/RA, AND SCA/A 
DEPT PASS FOR AID/ASIA SCAA 
DEPT PASS TDA FOR STEIN AND GREENI 
CENTCOM FOR USFOR-A AND CSTC-A 
NSC FOR JJONES 
DASD FOR DSEDNEY 
 
E.O.12958: N/A 
TAGS: EINV EFIN ENRG ETRD ECON EAID AF PREL KDRL
SUBJECT:  STRENGTHENING THE GOVERNMENT TWO DROPS AT A TIME 
 
1)(SBU) SUMMARY:  On Sunday, July 26, 2009, at 11:45 
a.m., President Hamid Karzai, Minister Sayed Mohammad 
Amin Fatimie of the Ministry of Public Health, along with 
U.S., French, and Canadian officials launched the Polio 
Eradication National Immunization Days (NIDs) in a 
ceremony at the Presidential Palace.  The event was 
organized to encourage the population to vaccinate their 
children against a crippling disease and highlights how 
critical health programming can be in a Counter- 
Insurgency (COIN) environment.  Indeed, the Minister of 
Health appeared to be quoting from the COIN manual when 
he noted that Anti-Government Elements (AGEs) hated such 
programming as it was another much needed and requested 
service being provided by the Government of the Islamic 
Republic of Afghanistan (GIRoA). END SUMMARY. 
 
 
 
 
POLIO Q STILL A THREAT IN AFGHANISTAN 
 
 
Background 
 
 
¶2. (SBU) Once found in 125 countries, Polio is only 
endemic in four Q Afghanistan, Pakistan, India and 
Nigeria.  Afghanistan and Pakistan form a single 
epidemiological block with about 20% of the worldQs 
cases.  Although Polio cases have dropped 99% worldwide 
since 1988, the same can not be said for Afghanistan. 
Past progress has been threatened due to the inability to 
provide vaccinations to children in the security- 
compromised areas of Southern and Eastern Afghanistan and 
North West Frontier Province (NWFP)/Federally 
Administered Tribal Areas (FATA) regions of Pakistan.  As 
of July this year, and just entering the high 
transmission season for polio, there were thirteen cases 
of polio in Afghanistan Q eleven cases in Helmand, 
Kandahar, and Uruzgan in the South and two cases in 
Nuristan and Kapisa in the East.  The polio transmission 
is more widespread than the numbers indicate as each case 
actually represents 200-1000 silent infections. 
 
¶3. (SBU) Polio eradication remains a priority for the 
United States Government (USG) as noted in President 
ObamaQs June Fourth speech in Cairo.  Most Donor funding 
for polio in Afghanistan and Pakistan goes to the Global 
Polio Eradication Initiative (GPEI).  Donors include 
national governments, Rotary International, and the Bill 
& Melinda Gates Foundation.  In addition to having 
provided over eleven million dollars over the past seven 
years for the program in Afghanistan, the USG also plays 
an active role through the provision of technical 
services.  Although the program reaches over seven 
million children under the age of five each year, 
hundreds of thousands remain unvaccinated.  In addition 
to the inaccessibility of the conflict areas, success is 
being further undermined by population movements from 
unvaccinated areas of Pakistan. 
 
 
Launch Event 
 
 
¶4. (SBU) In order to increase chances of success for this 
campaign, the Ministry of Public Health organized the 
launch event at the Presidential Palace and held planning 
meetings in Kandahar.  In Kandahar, Minister Fatimie and 
Dr. Najib Mujadidi, the PresidentQs Advisor for Social 
Affairs, headed a delegation that included 
representatives from the World Health Organization (WHO), 
United Nations ChildrenQs Fund (UNICEF), the 
Representative of Canada in Kandahar, and USAID.  They 
attended a meeting with governors from the region and the 
military to mobilize their support for the polio NIDs. 
In Kabul,President Karzai began the ceremony by giving 
his only son the requisite two drops of the Polio vaccine 
for the press.  He was followed by the Ambassadors of 
France and Canada and USAID Deputy Director, Peter Argo, 
each giving two drops of vaccine to other children while 
the President held the children. 
 
KABUL 00002128  002 OF 002 
 
 
 
 
POLIO ERADICATION Q THE EPITOME OF COIN? 
 
 
¶5. (SBU) At the Kabul ceremony, both President Karzai and 
Minister of Public Health Fatimie thanked the Donors for 
helping the Afghan government meet the basic needs of the 
population.  Minister Fatimie noted several times in the 
press conference that followed the launch event how the 
insurgents did not like the program and its success.  To 
be sure, successes such as this are critical for the 
citizens of Afghanistan active and continued support of 
their government.  Their support of their government is a 
pillar of COIN as it is essential for depriving an 
insurgency of its power and appeal. 
 
 
Comment 
 
 
¶6. (SBU) While Minister Fatimie may not be fully immersed 
in the principles and terminology behind COIN, he 
certainly understands the simple cause and effect behind 
the provision of basic services.  In one of the only 
countries in the world where polio is still endemic it is 
fairly obvious that a countryQs citizens would support a 
government that could help rid them of this scourge. 
 
¶7. (SBU) In addition to eradicating polio in their 
country, the citizens of Afghanistan have also recognized 
the importance of basic healthcare.  A recent survey in 
Afghanistan by The Asia Foundation found healthcare to be 
among the areas of concern for citizens at the local 
level.  The survey also noted that 66% found the Afghan 
government to be doing a good job in the provision of 
healthcare (and 84% said the same about the provision of 
basic education.)  These figures are somewhat lower in 
the insecure Southwest, and signal the need for the 
government to provide better services in this region as 
well. 
 
¶8. (SBU) With the son of the President as well as the 
other photogenic childrenQs presence, the launch event 
could not have been a more touching and symbolic gesture 
of the Afghan governmentQs commitment to its most 
vulnerable citizens. 
 
 
EIKENBERRY