US embassy cable - 05AMMAN9166

UNCLAS AMMAN 009166 
 
SIPDIS 
 
HHS FOR NIH - FOGARTY CENTER 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: TBIO, XF 
SUBJECT: Middle East Cancer Consortium: Low Profile, High 
Impact 
 
1.  (U) Summary: The U.S. National Institutes of Health- 
supported Middle East Cancer Consortium (MECC) just 
celebrated its tenth birthday and is going strong.  It's 
hard to think of another forum with Palestinians and 
Israelis, Indians and Pakistanis, and Turks, Turkish 
Cypriots and Greek Cypriots all deeply engaged together in 
professional discussion.  Two major MECC activities are 
scheduled for Turkey in 2006.  End summary. 
 
Clinton Initiative Started With 5 Members, Added Turkey 
--------------------------------------------- ---------- 
 
2.  (U) MECC started as a personal initiative of former 
President Clinton to his cancer-stricken mother, according 
to MECC Executive Director Dr. Michael Silbermann.  With 
financial support and leadership from the U.S. National 
Institutes of Health (NIH), the U.S. and Israel, Jordan, 
Cyprus, Egypt and the Palestinian Authority created the 
Middle East Cancer Society.  The Middle East Cancer Society 
became the Middle East Cancer Consortium (MECC) in 1996. 
Turkey joined MECC as a full member in 2004, and is a strong 
supporter.  Turkey will pay for two full-scale MECC training 
programs in 2006 to be held in Turkey.  One will be on 
cancer registries, the other on pediatric oncology. 
 
More Members Waiting in the Wings 
--------------------------------- 
 
3.  (U) Dr. Silbermann, in his opening remarks to MECC's 
November 15-17 meeting in Cyprus on palliative care said 
that he has gotten inquiries from Tunisia and from Qatar 
about joining MECC.  With NIH financial support for MECC 
limited, Silbermann and the MECC Board of Governors are 
trying to bring in new members and new funding.  Silbermann, 
whose personal leadership has been instrumental in MECC's 
success, also noted that MECC intentionally keeps a low 
profile so that its work on the ground does not draw 
politically-motivated naysayers. 
 
Foci Are Cancer Registries, Training 
------------------------------------ 
 
4.  (U) MECC's goal is to reduce the incidence and impact of 
cancer in the Middle East, particularly through training. 
MECC's flagship program is cancer registries, which collect 
and generate standardized, high quality data on cancer.  A 
manual of standards for cancer registries in the Middle East 
will be published by MECC in 2006.  MECC also pays for 
Fellows to attend long-term training programs, normally in 
the US.  Forty Fellows have gotten MECC-supported training 
during the past two years. 
 
5.  (U) MECC's first workshop on a topic other than cancer 
registries was in February 2004 on palliative care (medical 
care focused on relieving symptoms, not on curing the 
illness).  The strong response to that topic led directly to 
the second palliative care workshop in Cyprus November 15- 
17, 2005.  This meeting drew sixty-one participants from 
member countries, and another eighteen from a diverse group 
of non-member countries. 
 
6.  (U) Comment: MECC has a clear, important mission and a 
committed cadre of leaders around the region.  These two 
factors add up to a MECC that is going strong as it enters 
its second decade of operations in building health and 
partnerships. 
 
RUBINSTEIN