FOLLOW-UP ON PRESIDENT'S ANNOUNCEMENT TO EXPAND

UNCLAS BERN 000406 E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: KFLU AORC PREL SZ SUBJECT: FOLLOW-UP ON PRESIDENT'S ANNOUNCEMENT TO EXPAND FIGHT AGAINST GLOBAL H1N1 PANDEMIC REF: STATE 97471 -------------- Summary -------------- ¶1. (U) Embassy pol-econ counselor delivered reftel points to Swiss Federal Office of Public Health (FOPH) International Affairs Office Vice Director Dr. Gaudenz Silberschmidt MD. on September 25. Silberschmidt indicated that his office would be the coordinating center for Switzerland's participation in the international/WHO effort on H1N1. He then proceeded to outline the details of Switzerland's current national and international effort. -------------- Swiss Effort -------------- ¶2. (U) Switzerland's Federal Council approved and earmarked money for a mass domestic vaccination program in summer 2009. Switzerland subsequently ordered 13 million doses of H1N1 vaccine from Sanofi and Glaxo Smith Kline, at a price exceeding 10 CHF (US$10) a dose. Silberschmidt said that he estimates this is roughly four times the concessional per-dose price the WHO could probably obtain from the pharmaceutical firms for inoculation campaigns in developing countries. The FOPH estimates that 13 million doses will be enough to inoculate the entire Swiss population (7.8 million),assuming two doses are needed per child and one for each adult. Silberschmidt said he does not know when the first batch of vaccines will become available. Production is going more slowly than anticipated, due to the unanticipated difficulty of growing the vaccine. For this reason, estimates of annual global H1N1 vaccine production capacity have been reduced from 5 billion doses to 3 billion. ¶3. (U) With regard to the international effort, Switzerland is making available 5 million CHF ($5 million) for the WHO to purchase vaccines. Silberschmidt figures that this will be enough to buy roughly 1.5 million doses of vaccine at the $2-3 a dose concessional WHO price. Switzerland figures that this is therefore equivalent to roughly 10 percent of its overall vaccine procurement. In addition, Switzerland will provide vaccines to UN system employees living in or cycling through Switzerland. Finally, Switzerland does not yet know if the 13 million doses it is buying for its national program will be more than needed. If it turns out that Switzerland has over-purchased, then some additional donations may be possible. ¶4. (U) Switzerland has opted to separate the WHO procurement effort (at $2-3 a dose) from its domestic purchase. This will allow FOPH to avoid using expensive Swiss reference price vaccines for the WHO's developing country program, a costly strategy which would only subsidize pharmaceutical suppliers. The FOPH also did not think it would be feasible to negotiate price reductions for a portion of its already contracted orders, in order to provide these vaccines to the WHO. Instead, the Swiss-financed vaccine orders for WHO programs will be additional to those being purchased for the national Swiss program. In this way, the FOPH believes it can avoid a negative industry reaction. -------------- Concern about Liability -------------- ¶5. (U) Silberschmidt said that the Swiss government is concerned that liability issues could greatly complicate organization of the international action. For example, if a dual U.S./local national in a country like Botswana has an adverse reaction to a WHO-donated vaccination, will that person be able to sue the donors or the manufacturers in a U.S. court? If so, this could vastly increase the product liability risk (and therefore the manufacturer's vaccine price) for campaigns in developing countries. -------------- Swiss Questions -------------- ¶6. (U) Silberschmidt indicated that he had the following questions regarding U.S. planning. -- Which agency and which office specifically is in charge of leading the U.S. international response to H1N1? Can the U.S. provide appropriate points of contact and their e-mail, phone and fax numbers? -- Does the U.S. have plans to supply vaccines to UN agency personnel living in or cycling through the United States? -- Would the U.S. consider providing inoculations to members of other diplomatic missions in countries where the local authorities have limited capabilities? Switzerland has dozens of small diplomatic missions with no capacity for cold pack vaccine transport and storage. -- How does the U.S. plan to guarantee provision of vaccines to U.S. citizens residing overseas? -------------- Swiss Contact points -------------- ¶7. (U) The following Swiss Government officials should be included in WHO-related donor coordinating discussions: Dr. Gaudenz Silberschmidt MD Vice Director Head of Division Division of Intenational Affairs Federal Office of Public Health Federal Department of the Interior Tel: 41-31-322-6650 Fax: 41-31-322-1131 E-mail: gaudenz.silberschmidt@bag.admin.ch Ms. Rhena Forrer Division of International Affairs Federal Office of Public Health Federal Department of the Interior Tel: 41-31-325-5417 Fax: 41-31-322-1131 E-mail: rhena.forrer@bag.admin.ch Ms. Stephanie Gratwohl Egg Diplomatic Officer Political Division V Transport, Energy and Health Section Federal Department of Foreign Affairs Tel: 41-31-322-7531 Fax: 41-31-324-1063 E-mail: stephanie.gratwohl@eda.admin.ch -------------- Action Request -------------- ¶8. (U) Embassy requests Department's assistance to respond to GOS questions posed in paragraph 6. BEYER