Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
08KARACHI520
2008-09-10 06:18:00
UNCLASSIFIED//FOR OFFICIAL USE ONLY
Consulate Karachi
Cable title:  

KARACHI - SECRETARY LEAVITT MEETS WITH AGA KHAN OFFICIALS

Tags:  TBIO EAID PGOV PK SOCI KOCI 
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FM AMCONSUL KARACHI
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 0629
INFO RUEHIL/AMEMBASSY ISLAMABAD 0100
RUEHNE/AMEMBASSY NEW DELHI 1768
RUEHLH/AMCONSUL LAHORE 2580
RUEHPW/AMCONSUL PESHAWAR 4463
RUEAUSA/DEPT OF HHS WASHINGTON DC
UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 KARACHI 000520 

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TAGS: TBIO EAID PGOV PK SOCI KOCI PK
SUBJECT: KARACHI - SECRETARY LEAVITT MEETS WITH AGA KHAN OFFICIALS

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 KARACHI 000520

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TAGS: TBIO EAID PGOV PK SOCI KOCI PK
SUBJECT: KARACHI - SECRETARY LEAVITT MEETS WITH AGA KHAN OFFICIALS


1. (U) Summary: Secretary of Health and Human Services Michael
Leavitt met with senior Aga Khan University (AKU) faculty and
administration members during his August 20 visit to Karachi. AKU
officials discussed nursing programs and Pakistan's ongoing efforts
to train health care professionals. The officials were concerned
about the immigration of educated health care professionals from
developing countries to the U.S. The university's provost called
for closer ties to U.S. institutions and pointed out Pakistan's
attractiveness as a locale for clinical research. End summary.


2. (U) On August 20, Secretary of Health and Human Services Michael
Leavitt held meetings with administrators and faculty members at Aga
Khan University (AKU) in Karachi. After a lunch with senior AKU
officials, including university President Firoz Rasul, Provost
William Doe and Board Chair Ambassador Saidullah Khan Dehlavi, he
met with around 40 senior faculty and staff members. Nairobi AKU
officials participated in this session via conference call. Later
in the afternoon, the Secretary held a private meeting with nine
National Institutes of Health (NIH) grant recipients.

Nursing Needs
--------------


3. (SBU) AKU officials told the Secretary that, over its 25 year
history, AKU had elevated the status of nursing in Pakistan, which
had traditionally been regarded as a low status occupation. The
university, President Rasul explained, offers a traditional nursing
education program and has partnered with international universities,
such as McMaster University in Ontario, Canada, to offer a doctorate
degree in nursing.


4. (SBU) AKU also has a program in East Africa to advance the
education of trained nurses of varying skill levels. This program
includes an emphasis on leadership development for health care
professionals. The university has begun emphasizing midwife
training and is overseeing USAID funded prenatal and child health
projects in Afghanistan. AKU has trained nurses from a number of
other countries, including Egypt and Syria, and has become a role
model for other developing countries, said Rasul.


5. (SBU) Secretary Leavitt pointed out that limited university

capacity has contributed to a shortage of trained nurses. To
address that problem, he stated that some U.S. hospitals educate
nurses in-house who are then accredited by educational institutions
based on the trainees' medical competencies. The internet could be
used as a tool for the delivery of content based coursework to
health care providers, he added. The Secretary stated that U.S.
nursing programs focus on training nurses at various levels of
expertise to meet community needs.


6. (SBU) Provost Doe said that discovering the needs of rural areas
and then adapting technology and training that will work there has
been a successful strategy in Pakistan. As an example, he described
a drop in infant mortality that resulted from providing instruction
to traditional birth attendants.


7. (SBU) One NIH grant recipient later explained to the Secretary
that Pakistan's needs were the opposite of U.S. needs. Pakistan has
long had many less skilled nurses working in rural areas, such as
those that finish six month or one year training courses. The
country is still in need of professionally educated nurses who have
completed a full course of study, she added.

Loss of Talent Worrying
--------------


8. (SBU) One AKU faculty member (later echoed by an AKU official in
Nairobi) lamented the loss of Pakistani medical professionals who
stay in the U.S. after completing their education there. The
faculty member asked the Secretary to consider holding regional
classes and seminars, possibly in conjunction with AKU, to avoid
giving medical professionals the chance to remain outside of
Pakistan. The Secretary said that he supported plans to increase
regional training activities and hoped to develop a closer
relationship with AKU during his visit to move forward that goal.
However, he cautioned that some programs required access to things
that could not be transported, such as U.S. clinical settings. The
USG will always welcome education in the U.S. as an important
component of comprehensive training programs.

Call for Closer Ties to U.S. Institutions
--------------


9. (SBU) Referencing a new AKU joint degree program with Kabul
University for pediatricians and surgeons, Provost Doe called for
closer collaboration between AKU and U.S. institutions. He declared
that Pakistan, with its rich variety of diseases and a large
population, many of whom have never taken antibiotics, is fertile

KARACHI 00000520 002 OF 002


ground for clinical research involving international institutions.



10. (SBU) USG officials attending the AKU meetings:

-HHS Secretary Michael Leavitt
-Consul General Kay Anske
-William Steiger, Special Assistant to Secretary Leavitt
-Allyson Bell, Director of Department of Health and Human Services
(DHHS) Scheduling and Advance
-Mark Abdoo, Director, Office of Multilateral Affairs, DHHS
-Altaf Lal, DHHS Attache, New Delhi
-Kathleen McDonald, USAID, Embassy Islamabad
-Tim Hall, Pol/Econ Officer, Consulate General Karachi


11. (U) This cable has not been cleared by Secretary Leavitt.

ANSKE