VZCZCXYZ0017
PP RUEHWEB
DE RUEHMO #1793 1751321
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P 231321Z JUN 08
FM AMEMBASSY MOSCOW
TO SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 8739
UNCLAS MOSCOW 001793
SENSITIVE
SIPDIS
DEPARTMENT FOR OES/TIERRA COPELAND
E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: TBIO SENV PREL WHO RS
SUBJECT: G-8 HEALTH INITIATIVES DEMARCHE DELIVERED
REF: STATE 66363
1. (SBU) On June 23, Acting DCM shared the USG's health-related
priorities for the 2008 G-8 Summit with MFA North America Department
Director Igor Neverov. Post also shared the USG health priorities
with Deputy Minister of Finance Dmitriy Pankin (Russia's G-8
Sous-Sherpa), and with GOR officials at the International
Departments of the Ministry of Health and Social Development (MOHSD)
and the Federal Surveillance Service for Consumer Rights Protection
and Human Well-Being (Rospotrebnadzor).
2. (SBU) Yevgeniy Slastnykh, Head of the Office of Bilateral
Cooperation in the MOHSD International Department, expressed
interest in the USG initiative to train health care workers. He
noted that Russia currently hosted about 6,000 foreign medical
students, many of whom were studying on GOR-funded stipends and
fellowships under bilateral agreements with various countries
administered by the Ministry of Education and Science. He believed
Russia could consider hosting more medical students and increasing
the number of GOR-funded stipends and fellowships. Alexander
Kucherenko, head of the Rostpotrebnadzor International Department,
noted that his agency would likely be interested in supporting the
USG initiative on neglected tropical diseases. We will continue to
follow up with GOR officials regarding their reaction to the USG's
G-8 health priorities.
RUSSELL