NEW ZEALAND RESPONSE ON POLIO ERADICATION REQUEST

UNCLAS WELLINGTON 000862 SIPDIS DEPT FOR OES/IHA, EAP/ANP E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: KSCA TBIO NZ OECD SUBJECT: NEW ZEALAND RESPONSE ON POLIO ERADICATION REQUEST REF: STATE 208754 ¶1. Post delivered reftel demarche to the America's Division of the New Zealand Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade; Dr. Douglas Lush, Acting Director of the Communicable Diseases Unit in the Ministry of Health; and to Vicki Poole, Global Group Program Manager at the NZ Agency for International Development (NZAID.) ¶2. On behalf of these agencies, Poole responded in writing to Post that New Zealand could not provide additional funding for this initiative, as NZAID's budget is committed for this financial year. Poole reminded post of New Zealand's past donations of NZ$1.6 million (US1.1 million) in 2003 to the Initiative through the WHO, UNICEF and New Zealand Rotary International, and NZ$200,000 (US140,000) in 2004, also to New Zealand Rotary International. She added that the Polio Initiative will be considered seriously in future funding rounds, as immunization is a key component of NZAID's development strategy. However, she also noted that NZAID's priority focus remains the Pacific, and the entire Africa program budget is less than NZ$1 million (US700,000) per year. Poole's response has been faxed to EAP/ANP. Burnett