US embassy cable - 03VATICAN3971

UNCLAS  VATICAN 003971 
 
SIPDIS 
 
 
Dept. for EUR/WE (Levin) and AF/S; 
Dept also for Office of Global AIDS Coordinator; 
Dept pass USAID AFR/SA - DMendelson; 
White House for Dr. J. Frazer, Mr. J, O'Neill; 
HHS for Secretary Thompson and Bill Steiger 
 
E.O. 12958 N/A 
TAGS: PREL, PHUM, SOCI, TBIO, MZ, VT 
SUBJECT:  HIV/AIDS:  Catholic NGO Sees Mozambique Anti- 
Retroviral Program as Model 
 
Refs: A) Vatican 1508 (notal),   B) Vatican 1953 (notal) 
 
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Summary and Action Request 
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1. (u) The Sant'Egidio Community's ambitious program to 
combat HIV/AIDS in Mozambique (reftels), has met with 
considerable success this past year and is now set for 
expansion in Mozambique and potentially in other affected 
countries.  This track record, and the enthusiastic 
reaction to the program from HHS Secretary Thompson during 
his visit to Rome in April, have prompted Sant'Egidio to 
think big and to consider putting their anti-retroviral 
treatment forward as a model for implementation elsewhere. 
Sant'Egidio officials plan to visit Washington in mid- 
September to review with State, HHS, and AID officials 
prospects for funding for Mozambique and for expanded use 
of their Mozambique DREAM program.  Embassy continues to 
strongly support U.S. funding for Sant'Egidio's Mozambique 
DREAM program, and would also support its expansion to 
other countries and use as a model for anti-retroviral 
treatment elsewhere. 
 
2.  ACTION REQUEST:  Sant'Egidio leaders would like to meet 
with the President's recently nominated HIV/AIDS 
Coordinator Randall Tobias and Deputy Joseph O'Neill during 
their planned September 15-19 visit to Washington.  Embassy 
endorses this request, and recommends that the Department 
support this innovative anti-retroviral program with 
adequate funding to ensure its continued expansion.  End 
Summary and Action Request. 
 
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Mozambique DREAM Program Taking Root 
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3.  Charge and Poloff met with Sant'Egidio Community leader 
and Embassy liaison Claudio Betti August 27 to review 
Betti's planned visit to Washington and the Community's 
progress in implementing its DREAM (Drug Resource 
Enhancement against AIDS) anti-retroviral program 
(reftels).  Betti indicated that the program in Mozambique 
is making great strides, aided by commitments from 
pharmaceutical companies and the Italian government to 
produce anti-retroviral drugs at minimal cost.  He said the 
Community was seeking a total of 5 million dollars for this 
year's Mozambique program, and had secured some of this 
funding from the World Bank and other sources, but would 
welcome additional support from the United States. 
 
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Exploring Potential as a Model Program 
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4.  Betti noted that Sant'Egidio appreciated the 
enthusiastic reception its HIV/AIDS efforts received from 
HHS Secretary Thompson in Rome and subsequently in their 
meeting with him in Washington.  Based on the comments they 
received from the Secretary and his staff, Sant'Egidio was 
now examining how their DREAM program could be expanded 
beyond Mozambique and used as a model that could be 
implemented by governments even without direct Sant'Egidio 
participation. 
 
5.  Betti and HIV/AIDS Program Director Dr. Leonardo 
Palombi are planning to visit Washington in mid-September 
to meet with officials at HHS and at Georgetown 
University's School of Medicine to plan for a Washington 
presentation of their program to the international donor 
 
 
and health community later this year or early next year. 
Betti believed such a presentation of the program's results 
would provide the best springboard to expanded use of the 
DREAM framework elsewhere. 
 
6.  Betti and Palombi have expressed interest in meeting 
with HIV/AIDS Director Tobias (if confirmed by the time of 
their visit) and with Dr. O'Neill, with whom Betti and 
other Sant'Egidio officials had met this spring at the 
White House.  Sant'Egidio would like to pursue U.S. funding 
from the President's HIV/AIDS initiative, but more 
importantly, would like to explore possibilities for 
expanding the DREAM project to other countries and using it 
as a model that could be adopted by governments in affected 
countries.  Betti and Palombi also intend to meet with Bill 
Steiger of HHS, but will coordinate their own arrangements 
directly with HHS.  Embassy believes Sant'Egidio's efforts 
can contribute significantly to the implementation of the 
President's International Mother and Child HIV Prevention 
Initiative by increasing the availability of preventive 
care and building healthcare delivery systems to reach as 
many women as possible with the care they need.  Embassy 
would appreciate Department's assistance in facilitating 
meetings with the Office of the Global AIDS Coordinator. 
 
HARDT 
 
 
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 2003VATICA03971 - Classification: UNCLASSIFIED