PACAF AVIAN INFLUENZA WORKSHOP FOR LAO MILITARY

UNCLAS VIENTIANE 000061 SIPDIS SENSITIVE SIPDIS DEPARTMENT FOR EAP/MLS (BESTIC) DEPARTMENT FOR AIAG (PATTERSON, SUMMERS) DEPARTMENT FOR OES/STC DEPARTMENT FOR OES/IHA DOD FOR OSD-POLICY (STERN, SHUBERT) DOD FOR DSCA (JUDKINS) PACOM FOR J52 (LACY) PACOM FOR J45 (NICHOLLS) PACOM FOR PACAF/SGZ (CINCO, OH, PALMER) PACOM FOR POLAD MARFORPAC FOR (NOREN) E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: KFLU LA MOPS PREL TBIO MASS SUBJECT: PACAF AVIAN INFLUENZA WORKSHOP FOR LAO MILITARY TRAINERS REF: A. 07 VIENTIANE 0092 ¶B. 07 VIENTIANE 0625 ¶C. 07 VIENTIANE 0790 ¶1. (U) SUMMARY: U.S. Pacific Air Force (PACAF) medical specialists helped organize and funded a five-day "train the trainers" workshop on avian influenza (AI) rapid response for Lao medical personnel. More than seventy specialists -- including 35 from the Ministry of National Defense (MND) -- attended the workshop which was coordinated on the Lao side by the National Avian and Human Influenza Coordinating Office (NAHICO) and MND's Medical Department. The workshop followed World Health Organization (WHO) and the U.S. Centers for Disease Control (CDC) training materials. Attendees broke into working groups for a table-top exercise (TTX) based on an increasingly serious AI outbreak scenario. As was true for the first PACOM-NAHICO-MND AI workshop held last August (ref b),this program was special because it brought Lao military medical specialists together with their civilian counterparts to discuss how the two sides would work together in a situation requiring rapid response to a serious AI outbreak. Presentations by Embassy and PACOM specialists conveyed our desired message: that the role of the military in these efforts will be critical. End summary. BACKGROUND -------------- ¶2. (U) AI was identified during January 2007 talks, at the beginning of our expanded military-military cooperation, as an area acceptable to the Government of Laos (GOL) and MND for PACOM training (ref a). The Marine Forces of the Pacific (MARFORPAC) and PACAF cooperated on the first two-day very successful AI Subject Matter Expert Exchange (SMEE) in August ¶2007. More than 120 officials attended that SMEE including more than 70 from the Lao military (ref b). NAHICO and its director, Dr. Bounlay Phommasack, played a key role in organizing that program. Support from the Director General of MND's Medical Department, COL Dr. Bounteun Bandavong, was another key element ensuring success. NAHICO, which falls under the authority of the Prime Minister's Office, has the mandate to coordinate all AI preparations for the GOL. ¶3. (U) PACAF Office of International Health Affairs (PACAF/SGZ) COL John Cinco and MAJ Wesley Palmer returned to Vientiane in December 2007 to discuss with NAHICO and the MND Medical Department details for this second AI program, which had been previewed for GOL officials during our October 2007 Bilateral Defense Talks (ref c). This five-day AI/Pandemic Influenza (PI) Rapid Response Training of Trainers was based on a training course developed by the WHO and U.S. CDC and has been presented by PACAF/SGZ in a number of neighboring countries. The target audience was to include both MND medical and non-medical personnel who may be called upon to respond to control a pandemic outbreak. THE WORKSHOP -------------- ¶4. (U) NAHICO and MND's Medical Department invited more than 60 participants, with the majority representing MND. Military personnel, from both the Lao People's Army (LPA) and Air Force, came from MND's Medical Department, MND's Disease Prevention Institute, the Office of the Chief of Staff, MND's Transportation Department, MND's Agriculture Production Department, the Military Commander's Officer of the Vientiane Capital District, the LPA Newspaper, LPA Television, three military/public security hospitals, and five regional military units. Other attendees came from the Prime Minister's Office; the Ministries of Public Health, Agriculture and Forestry, Public Security, Energy, Public Works and Transportation, Information and Culture, and Foreign Affairs; as well as the Central Laboratory for Epidemiology (CLE),the Center for Information, Education, and Health (CIEH),and the Immigration Department and Water Bureau from the Vientiane Capital District. ¶5. (U) The U.S. side included PACAF/SGZ personnel led by Lt Col John Oh as well as specialists from 13th Air Force, Tripler Army Medical Center, and the Air Force Institute for Occupational Health (AFIOH),all of whom were active as speakers and/or "facilitators" for the six working groups during the workshop. In addition, Embassy Infectious Disease Control (IDC) Specialist Dr. Andrew Corwin, an Embassy IDC local employee specialist, and an Embassy-based USDA/APHIS specialist joined personnel from NAHICO, MND, and the Ministry of Public Health in making presentations and acting as facilitators. Special presentations were also delivered by personnel from WHO, including on WHO's Containment Strategy, and WHO and UNICEF on Risk Communication. ¶6. (U) Workshop topics included the Lao National Human Pandemic Influenza Plan; Ethical Conduct in an Outbreak Investigation; AI Protection and the Role of the Military; Case Management of Suspected AI Cases; Pharmaceutical and Non-Pharmaceutical Interventions to Control a Pandemic; Laboratory Diagnostics, Specimen Collection, and Biosafety Issues; and Case Investigation of Human AI; among others. Separate sessions were held on Animal Husbandry for Animal Health Practitioners. The attendees were each issued Protective Personal Equipment (PPE) sets, watched a demonstration on their use, and practiced putting them on correctly. THE TABLE-TOP EXERCISE (TTX) -------------- ¶7. (U) This workshop used a TTX set on Palawan Island in the Philippines where AI outbreaks were, according to the scenario, beginning to occur. Exercises started with making recommendations to the National Crisis Management Center on setting up a Rapid Response Team, on declaring an isolation zone, and on transportation, logistics, medical and monetary assistance, public communication, and related issues. The six working groups were presented with a total of six increasingly serious situation reports spreading over the 21-day scenario and asked to examine what the military's role would be in responding to the escalating pandemic. The participants took their roles seriously and engaged in detailed discussions of the situations they faced. Each working group was supported by as many as three facilitators to help them move through the TTX. The facilitators included visiting U.S. team members, and specialists from the Embassy, NAHICO, and the Ministry of Public Health. Working group reports back to the plenary and question-and-answer opportunities demonstrated differing options adopted by the different groups. However the common element was to ensure all involved ended the program understanding the important role the military has to play in helping manage a major pandemic event - whether AI or any other major problem which may affect Laos in the future. MND's Plan -------------- ¶8. (U) MND's Medical Department was very supportive of this program. Director General COL Dr. Bounteun joined the Ambassador and NAHICO Director Dr. Bounlay for the opening ceremony and remained for the entire first day to help ensure all of the MND participants were clear about his personal interest. COL Dr. Bounteun also returned for the closing to hand out certificates to all participants including the facilitators and presenters. Throughout, COL Dr. Bounteun and his senior deputies sent very positive messages about the importance they were attaching to this event. ¶9. (U) More importantly, the military attendees met separately mid-week and drafted their own plan for "Prevention and Control Planning of Avian Influenza (AI) in Line of Lao Military During the Year 2008-2010." The plan established the composition of the military team for dealing with a pandemic outbreak at both the ministry and grassroots levels, listed tasks the military needs to do to prepare for meeting the AI threat, and decided on required training for a military rapid response. (Copies of the Embassy's translation of the military plan are being e-mailed to AIAG and EAP/MLS. The PACAF team members also have copies.) COMMENT -------------- ¶10. (SBU) We are struck by how far we have progressed in training for the Lao military in a very short time. This is the second major AI program PACOM has supported in six months, and PACAF/SGZ also undertook a medical donation/nursing training/demonstration cleft palate surgery program in late September for Vientiane hospitals. We are even more satisfied that the military medical personnel attending this workshop sat down and committed to paper a serious plan to implement training to prepare for an AI pandemic. This was designed to be a "train the trainers" program, and the military plan provides the military personnel attending this workshop the basis necessary to return to their units to undertake or participate in further training. Our responsibility is to find ways to support this process. The Embassy expresses strong appreciation for PACAF/SGZ support and looks forward to continued cooperation. Huso