JOINT LETTER TO G8 ON MATERNAL HEALTH AND INFANT

C O N F I D E N T I A L STATE 072005 E.O. 12958: DECL: 07/02/2018 TAGS: BR CI EAID EINV ENRG ETTC JA LI MZ NO SG SOCI TZ SUBJECT: JOINT LETTER TO G8 ON MATERNAL HEALTH AND INFANT MORTALITY Classified By: EEB PDAS DAVID D. NELSON. REASON 1.4 (B) AND (D). ¶1. (C) Summary: Norway,s Charge d,Affaires Aud Kolberg met EEB PDAS David Nelson July 2 to present a letter (text in para 7) from leaders of Norway and six other countries to Japanese Prime Minister Fukuda urging Japan to lead the G8 in devoting greater attention and funding to combating maternal and child mortality. PDAS Nelson assured Kolberg that G8 leaders would highlight the need for such action in the Summit declaration on Development and Africa. He told Kolberg that food security, climate change, and health would be among the main issues discussed at the July 7-9 G8 Summit. Finally, PDAS Nelson expressed concern about reports we had received that an Iranian gas field in which the Norwegian state oil firm Statoil reportedly has invested may soon start production. Kolberg promised to follow up with Oslo and report back. End Summary ¶2. (U) Norwegian Charge d,Affaires Aud Kolberg met July 2 with EEB PDAS David Nelson to present a letter signed by Norwegian Prime Minister Stoltenberg, Chilean President Bachelet, Brazilian President Lula, Liberian President Johnson Sirleaf, Mozambican President Guebuza, Senegalese President Wade, Tanzanian President Kikwete, and Ms. Graca Machel. The letter to Japanese Prime Minister Fukuda, as the host of the July 7-9 G8 Summit in Toyako Japan, urges strong action by the G8 to achieve the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) related to reducing infant mortality and improving maternal health. Kolberg said this initiative was &close to the Prime Minister,s heart8 given his longstanding interest in improving the quality of health care and indicators in the developing world. ¶3. (U) PDAS Nelson thanked Kolberg for sharing the letter with us and noted that UN Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon and U.K. Prime Minister Brown would be hosting a high-level meeting in New York on September 25 to review progress in achieving the MDGs. EEB/ODF Director Christopher Webster added that the G8,s Development and Africa Declaration to be issued at the conclusion of the Summit reiterates the importance of meeting the MDGs on child mortality and maternal health. Kolberg was pleased to hear this news. ¶4. (U) Responding to Kolberg,s questions about this year,s G8 priorities, PDAS Nelson stated that food security, climate change, and health would be the most prominent issues discussed. The outcome of the food security discussions was expected to be consistent with the three-pillar U.S. approach outlined by President Bush on May 1 ) food assistance to meet immediate humanitarian needs, liberalization of agricultural trade by concluding an ambitious Doha Round Agreement and working to eliminate market distorting measures by countries with food surpluses, and promoting investments to stimulate food production and transport, including greater reliance on biotechnology. On climate change, the G8 discussions would complement the discussions that would occur in the Major Economies Leaders Meeting to follow immediately after the G8 Summit. ¶5. (C) Closing the meeting, PDAS Nelson expressed concern about reports we had received that an Iranian gas field in which Statoil reportedly has invested may soon start production. He said that these reports troubled senior State Department officials and anticipated that U/S Burns would be questioned about them when he testifies before Congress next week on Iran. Statoil actions would have to be closely reviewed in the light of Iran Sanctions Act requirements. Kolberg undertook to get information from Oslo and report back. ¶6. (U) Norwegian Embassy First Secretary Mattis Raustol accompanied the Norwegian Charge. Stephen Wheeler from EUR/NB also attended. ¶7. (U) Text of Letter: Begin Text Dear Prime Minister Fukuda: In 2000, at the Okinawa G8 Summit, Japan launched the Okinawa Infectious Disease Initiative. This highlighted the urgency of responding to the communicable disease burden facing many developing countries. It set out a new ambitious vision of the possible and helped to shape the development assistance agenda in the years ahead. Looking back at the eight years since Okinawa we see unprecedented levels of commitment to respond to that challenge and substantial investment through a number of initiatives including the Global Funds to fight AIDS, TB and Malaria (GFATM). This effort has delivered impressive results. Development spending on health increased from USD 6 billion in 2000 to USD 14 billion in 2005. In addition, this year we expect to see, for the first time, USD 10 billion spent on the response to AIDS. As a result, more than two million people are now receiving AIDS treatment, tuberculosis rates are stabilizing across much of the world, polio is closer to eradication than at any time in human history, measles deaths have fallen by 70%, and malaria is being pushed back in many countries. Sadly we have not seen the same progress in addressing other health and development priorities. This is particularly so as regards reducing child mortality (MDG 4) and reducing the number of women who die during pregnancy and childbirth (MDG 5),an area where there has been little progress over the last 20 years. Yet everyone agrees that urgent action is needed to prevent millions of children and their mothers dying needlessly each year. At the halfway point to 2015 we need to take stock. To look where we are making a difference and where we must intensify our collective effort if we are to realize the Millennium Development Goals. Last September saw the launch of the Global Campaign for the Health Related MDGs ) a movement to refocus and accelerate international efforts, to get us back on track to meet the MDGs by 2015 and to deliver on the world,s promise to the weakest and the most vulnerable. In July this year Japan will again host the G8 summit. As you yourself have pointed out, &among the health-related Millennium Development Goals, the issues of safe motherhood and health of children under five years of age remain serious as before, with some 500,000 pregnant women and 10 million children dying annually.8 It is difficult to accept that in 2008 a woman dies in pregnancy or childbirth every minute. We now need the same step change in investment in relation to MDGs 4 and 5 that we have seen in recent years in relation to MDG 6. Japan,s post-war experience in building community health systems shows how countries can improve maternal and child health and tackle infectious diseases at the same time. In 2008 we again look to Japan to lead the G8 in pushing the boundaries of the possible, by setting an ambitious agenda backed by the level of resources needed to make a difference in the seven years remaining to 2015. Yours sincerely /s/ Michelle Bachelet President of Chile /s/ Armando Guebuza President of Mozambique /s/ Jakaya Kikwete President of Tanzania /s/ Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva President of Brazil /s/ Ms. Graca Machel /s/ Ellen Johnson Sirleaf President of Liberia /s/ Jens Stoltenberg Prime Minister of Norway /s/ Abdoulaye Wade President of Senegal RICE