US embassy cable - 04DJIBOUTI335

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 DJIBOUTI 000335 
 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE PASS TO USAID, PARIS FOR NEARY 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PREL, PM, EAID, PINR, KHIV, AFIN, DJ 
SUBJECT: DJIBOUTI SPECTACLE AT PELTIER HOSPITAL 
 
SUMMARY 
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1. (U) Djibouti's Minister of Health, Mohamed Ali Kamil, 
along with French Ambassador Phillipe Selz, inaugurated on 
March 7 a new wing at Djibouti's public hospital, Peltier. 
The French financed surgical wing also has UN HIV/AIDS blood 
testing equipment and an imaging scanner donated by 
Djibouti's first lady, Kadra Haid.  Djiboutian President 
Ismail Omar Guelleh attended with his remarkable security 
entourage in tow. End Summary. 
 
THE EVENT 
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2. (U) Djibouti's Minister of Health, Mohamed Ali Kamil, 
invited Djibouti's political cream to attend an inauguration 
ceremony for a new wing at the capital city's public 
hospital, Peltier, located only five hundred yards from the 
U.S. Embassy.  Kamil, the acting UN resident representative, 
UNICEF Director Keith Mckenzie, and the French Ambassador, 
Phillipe Selz, all spoke.  Kamil and Mckenzie both offered 
forward leaning words on Djibouti's HIV/AIDS efforts.  Selz, 
in his first Djiboutian public appearance, concentrated on 
continued French commitment to Djibouti. 
 
PELTIER 
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3. (U) A vestige of French colonial occupation, Djibouti 
City's public hospital's roots date back to 1897 and the 
creation of a health unit for the French "Enterprise Generale 
de Construction" charged with building the Djibouti-Ethiopian 
railway.  The hospital takes its name from the French Chief 
Doctor who directed it from the 1930's until his death in 
1955.  Hospital officials report that Peltier has a capacity 
of 603 beds of which 401 are functional.  Amongst locals and 
expats alike the Peltier of today has a poor reputation.  In 
recent years, the "Cooperation Francaise" has diminished its 
human resource presence at the hospital to almost zero. 
This, in conjunction with poor administration and 
questionable budgetary allocations, has led to the rapid 
deterioration of facilities and services.  Nearly all of 
Peltier's 45 state employed physicians run private, 
unlicensed clinics out of their homes, reportedly with public 
Peltier resources.  Embassy FSNs report that Peltier is 
viewed as a "last resort" if locals do not have the financial 
means to pay for private or French military services. 
 
4. (U) In spite of these shortcomings, the new 263 million 
Djibouti Franc (nearly 1.5 million U.S.$) French financed 
surgical wing is impressive.  The imaging scanner (to perform 
MRI's for example) donated by Djibouti's first lady is the 
first of its kind in Djibouti's public sector.  The blood 
screening equipment that is part of the UN-funded AIDS 
campaign is technologically critical to Health Minister 
Kamil's announcement that Djibouti will begin retroviral 
treatment for its "3%" infected AIDS population. The question 
that UN and Embassy health workers ask remains one of 
maintenance and upkeep for these pricey additions to the 
maligned institution. 
 
A PRESIDENTIAL APPEARANCE 
------------------------- 
 
5. (SBU) President Guelleh arrived at the slated 9:00 a.m. 
ceremony in royal fashion.  The hospital site, located on the 
exclusive Heron peninsula between the French and U.S. 
Embassies, was closed to the public several hours before the 
ceremony began by approximately 200 of the President's elite 
"Republican Guard."  The sharply dressed Guard (in U.S. 
styled custom battle dress uniforms) occupied critical 
rooftop sniper locations and provided perimeter security for 
the event.  At 9:30 the first lady arrived with her two 
vehicle escort and 8 body guards to chants and drumming from 
her pre-installed cheering section.  At 9:45 8 shiny BMW 
motorcycles roared into the hospital compound with blaring 
horns and flashing lights to clear the path for the 
President's motorpool.  The lead GMC suburban dusted the 
seated crowd as two snipers jumped from the rear jump 
platform and a cadre of body guards in Nyerere-style African 
two piece suits with secret service ear plugs secured the red 
carpet for Guelleh's Mercedes sedan.  The trail GMC suburban 
then unloaded its body guards who secured the President's 
exit and approach to the seated assembly.  When Guelleh was 
seated in his cushioned recliner an aide installed a coffee 
table in front of him and served him a glass of chilled water 
covered in foil and a cup of coffee in gold plated trim. 
POLOFF counted 18 personal bodyguards attached to the 
President in addition to the motorcycle escort and the 
Republican Guard. 
 
COMMENT 
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6. (U) The inauguration ceremony presided over by Peltier 
Director Aden Mohamed Dileita, brother of Prime Minister 
Dileita Mohamed Dileita, was impressive.  The modern 
equipment and progressive speeches on HIV/AIDS were 
heartening.  Having visited patients at Peltier previously 
however, one wonders if resources to maintain the new 
facilities and equipment will be available.  It is not clear 
if or how much of France's investment in the wing will be 
devoted to maintenance.  End Comment. 
RAGSDALE