KOSOVO: NEW APPROACH NEEDED TO HELP

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 04 PRISTINA 000331 SIPDIS SENSITIVE SIPDIS DEPT FOR DRL, INL, AND EUR/SCE, NSC FOR BRAUN, USUN FOR DREW SCHUFLETOWSKI, USOSCE FOR STEVE STEGER E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: EAID PGOV PREF SENV YI KCRS UNMIK SUBJECT: KOSOVO: NEW APPROACH NEEDED TO HELP LEAD-CONTAMINATED ROMA REF: A. A. 05 PRISTINA 001138 ¶B. B. 06 PRISTINA 000049 ¶C. C. 06 PRISTINA 000109 ¶D. D. 06 PRISTINA 000256 ¶E. E. 06 PRISTINA 000339 ¶1. (SBU) SUMMARY: A year after the opening of Osterode camp, a USG-funded medical treatment facility for lead-poisoned Roma in northern Mitrovica, 134 Roma ) including 69 children ) still live in the highly contaminated Cesmin Lug camp for internally displaced persons (IDPs). Thirty-one children living at Osterode have been treated for lead poisoning. Indications are that blood lead levels (BLL) in both treated and untreated Roma living in Osterode have decreased due to conditions in the camp which reduce exposure to lead. However, USOP has not received a report or any systematically organized data from the World Health Organization (WHO) on the outcome of their lead therapy program in Osterode. We are also concerned about how our assistance was spent. For example, services intended for Osterode residents only, as an incentive for Roma to move there from Cesmin Lug, were made available to inhabitants of Cesmin Lug. We support continued USG funding of this vital public health issue, but we will also need to use our participation to improve the overall approach to this difficult issue. The UN will need to close Cesmin Lug; develop a strategic plan for the sustainable return of the Roma IDPs at both camps and reduce unsafe lead smelting practices; revise the treatment protocol based on Centers for Disease Control (CDC) recommendations; increase oversight to ensure that measures essential to Roma safety are implemented; and ensure the broad sharing of information. Absent these changes, it will be difficult to bring about either sustained reduction in BLLs or a durable solution to healthier living conditions for Roma. We have sought advice from the CDC on refining the WHO approach and would welcome their further engagement. Any future funding from the USG should be leveraged to secure the needed restructuring of international efforts to support this vulnerable community. END SUMMARY. CONTAMINATED CAMPS HURT ROMA HEALTH ¶2. (SBU) WHO discovered in 2004 that large numbers of Roma children in lead-contaminated IDP camps in northern Mitrovica had BLLs over 6.5 times higher than what WHO considers acceptable. There were reports of several child deaths attributed to the poisoning. Much has improved since that time, but daunting challenges remain, and many factors contribute to the continuing plight of the Roma. These include a lack of a long-term strategic plan for the sustainable return of Roma in the northern Mitrovica camps; lack of clarity in the roles and responsibilities of the international agencies involved; lack of trust and cooperation between stakeholders; difficulty obtaining necessary blood samples; political issues with Serbia's Ministry of Health; lack of income generation activities for Roma, apart from camp services and hazardous battery reprocessing; and the slow pace of reconstruction at the southern Mitrovica Roma mahala (neighborhood). CESMIN LUG NEEDS TO CLOSE ¶3. (SBU) The most significant threat to these Roma IDPs, however, is that the heavily contaminated Cesmin Lug camp remains open and occupied. In early 2006, there was a plan to close all three lead-contaminated Roma camps, including Cesmin Lug. Recognizing that UNMIK bore responsibility for moving Roma from the poisoned camps, we suggested that USG-funded treatment should not begin while Roma remained at those camps, as post-treatment patients have an increased vulnerability to lead contamination (ref C). Unfortunately, there was insufficient political will to close Cesmin Lug. (NOTE: Osterode was a Yugoslav military base before its occupation by French KFOR and subsequent transformation into an IDP camp. Some Kosovo Serbs claim a derivative property PRISTINA 00000331 002 OF 004 right to it and are loathe to see more Roma move in. END NOTE.) Today, UNICEF, OSCE, UNHCR, WHO and the UNMIK staff dealing with the Roma all agree that closing Cesmin Lug is the primary health priority for the Roma. Lead-safe Osterode has space for the 134 Cesmin Lug residents. NEXT STEPS TO IMPROVE ROMA HEALTH ¶4. (SBU) Following the closure of Cesmin Lug, several other actions would significantly improve the Roma health situation in the short term. First, Osterode camp, opened about a year ago, needs funding at a level that allows hygiene measures to resume and camp security to continue. Osterode was foreseen as safer than Cesmin Lug partly because, while Cesmin Lug children play in contaminated soil, Osterode is paved and can be washed down. Unfortunately, due in part to conflict with northern Mitrovica municipal authorities and the water company, water supply in Osterode has been highly unreliable and expensive. According to camp management, the camp has not been washed down since October 2006 because of high water costs. Lack of water also contributes to contamination, since Roma parents who smelt batteries off-site cannot wash themselves or their clothing before returning to their children. Temporary water shut-offs have delayed the delivery of lead treatment at the in-camp health clinic. Osterode,s security guards prevent Roma residents from smelting batteries on the premises. Water and security are critical to maintaining lower levels of lead contamination in Osterode. MEDICAL OUTREACH ¶5. (SBU) Second, Roma must be encouraged to cooperate with the lead abatement treatment. According to UNICEF, the record-high Roma BLLs have attracted numerous "needle-wielding" doctors over the years, fostering Roma skepticism towards medical professionals. According to WHO, this has resulted in some Roma parents refusing to allow doctors to take blood samples from their children. Recent samples are necessary before treatment can begin, as lead levels change within two months of re-exposure. Thus a continuing education component, so Roma will understand the danger of lead poisoning and battery processing, and the value of treatment, is important to encourage Roma to be open to the testing. LEAD CHELATION THERAPY ¶6. (SBU) Third, the treatment strategy must be revised. We are dissatisfied with the extent of lead chelation therapy thus far. Of the 260 children living in lead-contaminated camps this time last year, only 31 have received the full course of treatment. At minimum, a dozen children at Osterode still have BLLs above 45 micrograms/deciliter (NOTE: CDC and WHO consider 10 and above as an indication that a health intervention is needed. END NOTE.) Sixty-nine children live at Cesmin Lug and likely have extremely high levels. We have yet to receive WHO documentation of the initial and current BLL of even the 31 treated children, nor BLLs of all the children tested, despite our continued requests for data. Furthermore, as an adjunct to CDC lead treatment guidelines, a substantial portion of USG funding was spent on a food basket program for all IDP families in both Cesmin Lug and Osterode. WHO felt this was an essential component of the medical treatment to maintain the nutritional status of this population, which is constantly exposed to lead and other heavy metals. Had this camp-wide feeding program not been implemented, we would likely still have funds to continue targeted treatment for those suffering from lead poisoning. Finally, the political affiliations of local medical personnel in northern Mitrovica may not be compatible with the professional discharge of their duty to provide medical care. Pressure from Kosovo Serb hardliners is reportedly to blame for the clinic being over-staffed on paper while the Roma remain untreated and underserved in PRISTINA 00000331 003 OF 004 practice. A NEW PARTNERSHIP ¶7. (SBU) We would like CDC to assist us by refining the treatment strategy according to their well-tested protocols. An updated approach would include strategies to reduce risk of Roma lead exposure, clarification of the treatment protocol and the role of nutritional supplements therein, and a recommendation for an untainted, on-site implementation mechanism. For example, a short-term international medical lead expert or an international medical NGO could implement the therapy under close supervision of CDC. Perhaps through CDC some coordination with WHO could be possible. We believe that the next phase of lead chelation therapy should be conducted by someone who is on-site and reporting progress regularly to USOP. ¶8. (SBU) In the longer term, Roma should be encouraged to stop smelting batteries. According to UNICEF and WHO, selling lead smelted out of dead batteries (to parties allegedly using it to make new batteries) is the major income-generation activity for the Roma but is also a major health risk. A safer approach would be to confine battery recycling to a battery recycling facility. Furthermore, it would be counterproductive if this battery smelting practice is instituted along the river in the newly-built mahala. Finally, the dead batteries may be brought into Kosovo illegally; stepped-up customs awareness and enforcement could help. If Roma continue to smelt batteries, they should at least have access to a reliable water supply to wash after smelting and before feeding and playing with their children. RETURNS TO MAHALA AND ELSEWHERE ¶9. (SBU) Finally, a long-term strategic plan for eventual Roma return must be developed. According to Norwegian Church Aid, UNMIK,s implementing partner managing Osterode, and UNMIK, of the 129 households in Cesmin Lug and Osterode, 83 are from the southern Mitrovica mahala, which Albanians burned to the ground in 1999. The first phase of mahala reconstruction was completed in March and 102 families have returned there from Osterode, Montenegro, and Serbia ) a major accomplishment. Phase two, which would ideally allow the remaining displaced mahala residents to return, has not yet been funded. In addition, 46 of the families in the camps are not from the mahala; they are from elsewhere in Kosovo -- Mitrovica (14),Tuneli Pare and Vushtri (nine households each),Stari Trg (six),Pristina (five),and Istok, Peja, and Prizren (one each). (NOTE: In anticipation of an eventual transfer of authority from UNMIK to the new Mitrovica municipalities with a joint oversight board envisioned in the Ahtisaari proposal, and the ensuing political shake-up, UNHCR may be in a better position than the Kosovo government to take responsibility for Roma IDPs from UNMIK. Although UNHCR has overseen the successful dismantling of the Plementina Roma IDP camp in Kosovo, it is not yet stepping forward to take on the similar challenge in northern Mitrovica. END NOTE.) ¶10. (SBU) COMMENT: We have come a long way from last year ) only 69 Roma children live and play in a severely lead-contaminated environment, down from 260. Still, much more needs to be done to bring about a durable solution. Our first step will be engaging with UNMIK to close Cesmin Lug and to implement the points described above. We hope we can engage CDC in this important public health issue to get their professional perspective and refine the approach by the WHO. The Swedes and the Norwegians have been generous in their support of the Roma, particularly in the reconstruction of the mahala. Our preference will be to continue to focus our own resources in the health sector, while working within the donor comunity and with the host government to address the broader challenges. We are reluctant to commit additional funds absent the kind of structural improvements needed to PRISTINA 00000331 004 OF 004 give these broad programs a credible chance of success. We will work with CDC, PRM and others to ensure that our money is spent judiciously and can be used to leverage a broader and more effective international effort. END COMMENT. KAIDANOW