VZCZCXRO0091
RR RUEHAST RUEHDH RUEHHM RUEHLN RUEHMA RUEHPB RUEHPOD RUEHSL RUEHTM
RUEHTRO
DE RUEHBU #1189 3071030
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 031030Z NOV 09
FM AMEMBASSY BUENOS AIRES
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 4562
INFO RUCNMER/MERCOSUR COLLECTIVE
RUEAUSA/DEPT OF HHS WASHINGTON DC
RHMFIUU/HQ USSOUTHCOM MIAMI FL
RUEHZN/ENVIRONMENT SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY COLLECTIVE
RUEHPH/CDC ATLANTA GEORGIA

UNCLAS BUENOS AIRES 001189 
 
C O R R E C T E D C O P Y (ADDED ADDRESSEE/DELETED PASS LINE) 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
DEPT FOR OES/IHB - B. SORENSON AND D. WILUSZ 
HHS FOR OFFICE OF GLOBAL HEALTH AFFAIRS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: KFLU KSTH TBIO SOCI PREL AR
SUBJECT:  CDC EXPERT CONDUCTS PROGRAM IN ARGENTINA ON H1N1 
COMMUNICATION STRATEGIES 
 
REF:  Buenos Aires 952 and previous 
 
¶1. (U) Summary:  Dan Rutz, Global Health Communication Team Lead at 
the Centers for Disease Control (CDC), visited Buenos Aires and 
Mendoza from October 2-5 to consult with and brief public health and 
media counterparts on communication strategies related to the H1N1 
outbreak.  Rutz held meetings with public health officials, 
journalists, and medical professionals, and conducted media outreach 
in the two cities.  Rutz's program was of great interest here, as 
mishaps in the early days of the H1N1 outbreak and subsequent 
corrections confirmed the effectiveness of the type of communication 
strategy he advocates.  End Summary. 
¶2. (U) The program of CDC speaker Dan Rutz focused on media and 
government responses to epidemics, risk communication strategies, 
and how to work with multiple stakeholders during epidemics.  Rutz 
also gathered lessons learned from the Southern Hemisphere's H1N1 
season and emphasized to Argentina public health officials the 
benefits of working closely and openly with the media.  He noted 
that the media will report on epidemics regardless of health 
ministry cooperation, and that proactive engagement can help ensure 
accurate reporting and calm a wary public. 
¶3. (U) Rutz also held training sessions for health journalists, 
speaking to over 100 media representatives.  His media outreach 
focused on the ethics of public health coverage and gave a technical 
overview of influenza pandemic.  He emphasized the need to have a 
solid technical understanding of epidemiology and to push public 
health officials for accurate information, being cautious of reports 
that could inflame unfounded public fears. 
¶4. (SBU) Accompanied by ESTHCouns, Rutz visited the western city of 
Mendoza to meet with health ministry representatives from three 
provinces.  As a result of his meeting with the Mendoza Health 
Minister, the Minister decided to alter his ministry's epidemic 
communications strategy to put more emphasis on availability and 
openness to the media.  Rutz convinced the Minister that if 
officials were not made available to the press, the press would be 
forced to rely on other (usually wrong) sources, leading to public 
confusion and misinformation. 
¶5. (SBU) As a corollary benefit, Rutz's visit to Mendoza helped 
strengthen regional public health cooperation by bringing together 
officials from several provinces.  Communications representatives 
from the health ministries of Mendoza, San Luis, and San Juan 
provinces all attended the presentation in Mendoza, which turned out 
to be the first time they had ever met.  The encounter led them to 
decide to institute closer regional cooperation in the future on 
health issues.  Their lack of previous contact was indicative of the 
significant deficit in coordination between different government 
bodies during the Argentine H1N1 outbreak. 
¶6. (SBU) Rutz concluded his visit with a substantive meeting at the 
Ministry of Health (MoH) with Deputy Minister Fernando Avellaneda. 
The Argentine MoH is particularly aware of the political dangers of 
epidemics, as the Health Minister resigned in early July 2009 at the 
height of the Argentine H1N1 outbreak, due to disagreement about her 
ministry's response to the outbreak.  The Argentine media covered 
H1N1 very heavily in June and July, with considerable criticism of 
the nearly-overwhelmed public hospitals and the perceived lack of 
government response and communication.  The new Health Minister, Dr. 
Juan Manzur, took drastic measures, including closing all schools 
and universities for three weeks and making Tamiflu free and 
available to all patients (reftels) , to try to stem the spread of 
the flu.  The measures were quite effective in controlling the 
outbreak. 
¶7. (SBU) Avellaneda, who took office in July with Manzur, noted that 
the central government was initially too slow in acknowledging the 
H1N1 outbreak and that communication between local, provincial, and 
national governments was poorly coordinated.  The MoH also had to 
combat rumors that the epidemic was a fiction meant to boost 
pharmaceutical industry profits.  Avellaneda credited his 
communication staff with quickly moving towards greater transparency 
in their first days in office.  Among other actions, his team 
immediately released new estimates showing a tenfold increase of 
H1N1 over the previously publicized numbers. 
¶8. (SBU) Comment:  The program of this CDC speaker was timely and of 
great interest here, as mishaps in the early days of the H1N1 
outbreak and subsequent corrections confirmed the effectiveness of 
the type of communication strategy which CDC advocates.  Media 
coverage was scathing in early July, as public fears mounted, and 
the new MoH team's strategy did seem to calm the media and public 
outcry.  While this may have been in part due to the natural 
downturn of the epidemic, the enhanced transparency of Avellaneda's 
communication team did lend credibility to the MoH, causing the 
media to focus its attention more on the facts and less on public 
fear.  End comment. 
MARTINEZ