INDONESIA- APRIL 27 AVIAN INFLUENZA UPDATE

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 JAKARTA 001191 SIPDIS SENSITIVE SIPDIS DEPT FOR EAP/MTS, G/AIAG AND OES USAID FOR ANE/CLEMENTS AND GH/CARROLL DEPT ALSO PASS TO HHS/WSTEIGER/ABHAT/MSTLOUIS AND HHS/NIH GENEVA FOR WHO/HOHMAN E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: TBIO AMED CASC EAGR AMGT PGOV ID SUBJECT: INDONESIA- APRIL 27 AVIAN INFLUENZA UPDATE REF: A) Jakarta 01053 ¶1. (SBU) Summary. During the week of April 24, a World Health Organization (WHO) team assessed qualifications of the National Institute for Health Research Development (NIHRD) and the Eijkman Institute as potential WHO collaborating centers. During the NIHRD assessment, Dr. Triono Soendoro, NIHRD described the relationship between NAMRU-2 and NIHRD as "oneness" and had the assessment team tour the NAMRU-2 flu lab. Despite continued pledges to the WHO that the Ministry of Health (MOH) will resume sharing samples, no samples have yet left Indonesia. Local press ran a story on April 26 that Minister of Health Minister Fadillah Supari will not share samples until an agreement guarantees that recipients won't use samples for commercial purposes. Singapore and Indonesia finalized the Tangerang project after 10 months of discussion and have scheduled a signing event for May 9. At the same time, Indonesia's national AI coordinating committee (KOMNAS) postponed Tangerang project trilateral technical meetings until the week of May 21. MOH reports no new Avian Influenza (AI) cases since we transmitted Ref A. End Summary. WHO Team Assesses NIHRD and Eijkman -------------- ¶2. (SBU) A four member team conducted assessments at both NIHRD and the Eijkman Institute during the week of April 23 to determine the qualifications of the two institutions to serve as potential WHO collaborating laboratories. During the assessment, Triono repeatedly described the relationship between NAMRU-2 and NIHRD as "oneness" and brought the assessment team on a tour of the NAMRU-2 flu laboratory. Dr. Masato Tashiro, Director of the WHO Collaborating Center in Tokyo led the team that included members from Thailand and India. No Material Transfer Agreements, No Samples -------------- ¶3. (U) A local newspaper reported on April 25 that Minister of Health Siti Fadilah Supari will not send avian influenza virus samples to WHO Collaborating Centers until there is an agreement in place that can guarantee samples will not be used for commercial purposes. Supari reportedly noted that the Jakarta declaration was insufficient assurance for appropriate use of samples. According to the press report, Supari also said the MOH has received many offers from pharmaceutical companies to develop vaccines from the Indonesian strain. ¶4. (SBU) During a private meeting on April 16, Triono told us that he will soon send samples to WHO collaborating centers in Japan but that "he doesn't want to go to jail for 12 years"--a reference to penalties Triono claims he could be subject to under Indonesian law for not safeguarding Indonesia's best interests in sample sharing. Triono echoed his view that WHO labs had misused Indonesian samples before and that Indonesia needed MTAs in place to prevent similar misuse. Tangerang Update -------------- ¶5. (U) A Singaporean Embassy official told us on April 24 that Singapore has finalized a MOU with the Government of Indonesia for the Tangerang project and scheduled a signing event for May 9. The Singaporean Minister of Health and Coordinating Minister for Peoples' Welfare Abizural Bakrie will sign. The REDI Center has also finalized its MOU with Indonesia. At the same time, Indonesia's national AI coordinating committee (KOMNAS) has postponed technical meetings to discuss Tangerang to the week of May ¶21. AI Human Case Reports -------------- ¶6. (SBU) The MOH reports no new human AI cases since Ref A. As a result of the sample sharing impasse, Ministry of Health (MOH), NAMRU-2 and WHO now post different confirmed AI case statistics, per JAKARTA 00001191 002 OF 002 Table 1. -------------- --- Table 1: Indonesia AI Case Counts (4/27/07) -------------- --- No. No. Fatality Organizttion Cases Deaths Rate -------------- ( -------------- --- MOH 94 74 78% NAMRU-2 33 64 77% WHO (1) 81 63 78% (1) WHO figures date fromwwhen the MOH still sent samples to WHO Collaborai(ng Centers for confirmation via NAMRU-2. HEFFERN