AGAINST THE ODDS, MIDDLE EAST CANCER CONSORTIUM

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 TEL AVIV 001876 SIPDIS SENSITIVE DEPT FOR NEA/IPA, NEA/RA, OES/IHA AND OES/PCI HHS FOR NIH/FOGARTY CENTER E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: TBIO PREL KPAL KWBG IS XF XD ENVIRONMENT SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY SUBJECT: AGAINST THE ODDS, MIDDLE EAST CANCER CONSORTIUM EXTENDING ITS REACH REF: 05 AMMAN 9166 SENSITIVE BUT UNCLASSIFIED - PLEASE HANDLE ACCORDINGLY. Consulate General Jerusalem cleared this cable. ¶1. (SBU) Summary: The Middle East Cancer Consortium is extending its reach and adding attendees from additional countries to its activities. Independent Palestinian health professionals remain eager to participate in MECC conferences and courses while PA officials are off-limits. Member countries have begun providing in-kind contributions and NGOs are also supplementing USG financial support for MECC. Turkey, the newest MECC member, is looking to utilize MECC to expand cancer cooperation with nations to its east. The Israeli executive director is planning tenth anniversary commemorations in Israel this fall. End summary. -------------- MECC Weathers Post-Hamas Transition -------------- ¶2. (SBU) Middle East Cancer Consortium Executive Director Professor Michael Silbermann met with the Ambassador May 8 to report on recent MECC developments. MECC meetings and courses took place in Ankara in April. There were participants in Ankara from Morocco, Tunisia, Algeria, Qatar and Iraq in addition to MECC member countries Israel, Jordan, Egypt, Cyprus, the U.S. and the host, Turkey. Egyptian doctors presented a course in Ankara on cancer epidemiology and biostatistics. Consistent with the USG contact policy for the Palestinian Authority and OFAC regulations, PA Ministry of Health officials were ineligible for USG funding for travel to the conference (and all USG funding for the Palestinian Cancer Registry, which falls under the PA Health Ministry, has been suspended). As a result, PA officials did not attend the Ankara meetings. Silbermann provided names and other personal data for vetting by Consulate General Jerusalem of independent Palestinian health professionals looking to participate in a June MECC activity in Larnaca, Cyprus focused on cancers in children. The annual MECC Ministerial Steering Committee Meeting normally takes place on the margins of the World Health Assembly in Geneva, scheduled for later this month, and is chaired by the U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services. Given the restrictions on contact with the PA, HHS has already informed Silbermann that the Steering Committee Meeting will be postponed. -------------- -------------- Finally, Not Totally Dependent on U.S. for Funding -------------- -------------- ¶3. (SBU) Funding has been an ongoing challenge for MECC over its 10-year history. Turkey covered hosting costs in Ankara, and Cyprus will do the same for the upcoming meeting in Larnaca. These in-kind contributions are finally beginning to fulfill the provision in the MECC charter stating that all members will play their part in sustaining the organization financially. Until recently, almost all financial support had come from the USG. The Israeli Cancer Society and the Turkish Hope for Good Health Foundation will cover air fares for their country's participants in Larnaca. The American Cancer Society will cover air fares for the Palestinian, Egyptian and Jordanian participants. Silbermann said that MECC may be able to sponsor certification courses in the future to raise additional funds for MECC. The Ambassador noted the potential for Israeli and Egyptian doctors to work together to develop and present such courses. -------------- Turkey Very Proactive -------------- ¶4. (SBU) Turkey, MECC's newest member, has been eager to assist Silbermann in extending MECC's reach. The GOT MOH is interested in involving Armenia, Georgia and Azerbaijan, other countries of the former Soviet Union, Afghanistan and Pakistan in MECC activities. The Turkish MFA discouraged Silbermann from responding positively to an invitation from the Kurdistan (Iraq) MOH to host a MECC activity in Arbil. The GOI and the GOT are positive, though, about more general Iraqi participation in MECC activities. The Pakistani Cancer Society has offered to host MECC in Karachi. Silbermann is meeting with the Director of the GOI MFA Center for International Cooperation (MASHAV) to seek funding for future events in Israel, but also to check whether GOI security restrictions would prevent Israeli participation in Karachi. The Tunisian MOH has also expressed interest in hosting MECC activities. -------------- Commemorative Activities in Israel this Fall -------------- ¶5. (SBU) Silbermann told the Ambassador he envisioned holding commemorative activities in Israel later this year to celebrate MECC's tenth anniversary. The Ambassador readily agreed to host a dinner or small reception in honor of the occasion and to help open a conference in which experts from MECC countries and other invited participants could present papers. A recent NCI report based on data from MECC cancer registries in Cyprus, Egypt, Israel and Jordan could also be presented at the conference. Silbermann believes he can obtain funding from private foundations to bring about 35 participants to Israel. The Ambassador noted that there are outstanding Israeli medical institutions that would likely be willing to support the commemorative gathering, and which could add to the draw of the gathering for cancer experts considering attending. -------------- The Fight Against Cancer in the Middle East -------------- ¶6. (SBU) Silbermann agreed that rising concerns about cancer and other health risks may begin to bring down smoking rates in the Middle East in the next five years. He mentioned one particularly effective ad suggesting a link between smoking and impotence. Awareness campaigns in the region are carried out by local cancer societies. The Ambassador suggested MECC might do a comparative study of the effectiveness of those campaigns. Early detection and willingness to receive treatment remains a problem among Arab populations, especially for breast cancers. There appears to be both embarrassment and a sense of resignation about the disease, according to Silbermann. Silbermann said these factors are complicated by the need for expert manual examination in addition to mammograms to increase early detection. Regarding incidences of cancers in MECC countries, Silbermann said in Turkey there appeared to be a link between environmental factors, including asbestos, and lung cancer. In Egypt, bladder cancers were more common, linked to water supplies. In Israel, the incidence of breast cancer among Jewish women was approaching one in seven. ¶7. (SBU) Silbermann noted that Ramban Hospital near Haifa served a third of Israel's population in cancer treatments, including almost all of the country's Arab population. The hospital has many well-trained Arab doctors and nurses on its staff. Silbermann said that ethnic Arab health practitioners had garnered positive attention from Israel's Jewish majority and from medical institutions in the Gulf. Many Jews prefer Arab doctors, he said, because "they still see medical care as a mission" and will visit with their patients in the afternoon, while their Jewish counterparts head off to their private practices following morning hospital rounds. Silbermann said that medical facilities in the Emirates and Qatar, in particular a new medical center in Abu Dhabi affiliated with Johns Hopkins, are interested in recruiting Arab Israeli nurses. He also said he knew of two Iraqi doctors interested in doing specialty training in Haifa. -------------- MECC On The Move -------------- ¶8. (SBU) Comment: The fight against cancer is compelling. MECC is making clear progress, both in extending its reach and garnering financial support. The proactive Israeli executive director is building MECC's credibility and reputation despite obstacles arising from recent political events in the region. End comment. JONES