Remarks by U.S. Ambassador Eric G. John, at the Rotary Club Luncheon, Rotary Club of Bangkok South Meeting, Pan Pacific Hotel Bangkok
[As Prepared for Delivery]
President John Quarmby, distinguished guests, members of the Rotary Club of Bangkok South, it is my pleasure to be here with you this afternoon.
I would like to first thank Alex Mavro for coordinating my invitation to speak at your club meeting today. It is well known that the Rotary Club of Bangkok South is one of the largest and oldest Rotary Clubs in Thailand. With over 120 members from over 20 countries, you represent a diverse range of members attracted to your commitment to your blend of very good fellowship and meaningful community service.
With your commitment to service, I think you will appreciate the focus of my speech today. I would like to talk to you about some of the important measures the U.S. Embassy is taking in a subject that affects all of us – health initiatives.
The sight of people wearing surgical masks is becoming more common place, as well as the increased presence of hand sanitizers. Concerns over preventing disease are covered daily in the media, and these are concerns we all share. I want you to know that the U.S. Embassy in Bangkok is actively engaged in addressing these health concerns.
So why share this with you?
Given the worldwide presence of Rotary International, you are in a unique position to reach out to people in need of assistance across the globe. As Rotarians you use your skills and resources, and just importantly, volunteer your time, to make a difference in the lives of others. Your own charity program, the Rotary Foundation, is renowned for its scholarship programs that help students further their education and establish ties that cross borders. In fact, we have several people at the U.S. Embassy who are past beneficiaries of your Rotary scholarships.
The Rotary Foundation is known also for its efforts in improving the lives of others, whether by supporting education, alleviating poverty, or improving health. Of course, your organization is already keenly aware of the importance of improving health and eradicating disease. Rotary International’s PolioPlus program, focused on eradicating the crippling disease of polio, has been in existence for more than 20 years and has touched the lives of so many children worldwide.
Health issues are an extremely important part of the U.S. Embassy’s efforts in Bangkok too. Over one-fifth of our Embassy staff is focused on health issues. Let me put that in perspective for you. With a staff of approximately 2,000 employees, the U.S. embassy in Thailand is the fourth largest US Embassy in the world (only Beijing, Baghdad, and Cairo are larger.) So that means that about 400 employees at the U.S. Mission are tasked with fighting diseases. Our focus is on addressing some of the world’s most dangerous diseases including, malaria, tuberculosis, dengue fever, HIV/AIDS, the avian influenza pandemic, and of course now H1N1.
There are some important reasons why health issues are such a key part of the U.S. Mission in Thailand. As a region, Southeast Asia has seen the emergence of strains of malaria resistant to multiple drugs. Avian influenza originated in this region, as did SARS. In addition, a range of other diseases including HIV/AIDS, dengue fever, and hepatitis are also prevalent in this area.
The fact that Thailand is one of the most developed and stable nations in this region, and that Bangkok annually hosts a number of conferences dealing with public health, make Bangkok a logical choice as a hub for one of the largest centers for the U.S. Government in addressing some of the world’s most dangerous global health threats.
In addition, the already high capacity of the Thai scientific and medical community makes collaboration on health related research between the Thai community and U.S. Government agencies a strong benefit for Thai, U.S., and also global research. Thai field research capacity has been so impressive that Thailand was chosen to partner with the U.S. military for an HIV vaccine trial that has received wide acclaim with promising research results expected. A result of this development is that Thailand has emerged as a donor and scientific collaborator in its own right, assisting other countries with their health issues.
The three main U.S. Government agencies in Thailand focused on health issues include the US Agency for International Development (USAID), the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), and the Armed Forces Research Institute of Medical Sciences (AFRIMS). In addition, the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) food safety and animal health programs are also an important part of our U.S. Government health efforts.
Each of these agencies works closely with their Thai counterpart agencies to address initiatives across Thailand. Their efforts cover a range of activities including research, treatment, and capacity building. Just as importantly, Bangkok serves as the hub for these agencies to conduct their work in countries and regions ranging from India to the Pacific Islands.
I would like now to speak briefly to some of the key initiatives taken by these four agencies.
First, the USAID Regional Development Mission for Asia supports with direct and indirect funding over 50 non-governmental agencies, other U.S. Government agencies, and both national and multinational institutions. This group manages infectious disease in eleven countries, from India to China. Some are regional, some are bilateral, and some are advisory to the USAID bilateral missions. I would also like to point out that the USAID Regional Development Mission malaria program first identified failures to the most powerful malaria medicine in the world.
Second, the U.S. Health and Human Service Department’s CDC has doubled in size over the past ten years, to almost 200 employees and is housed within the Thai Ministry of Public Health. The CDC assures the quality of health screening for all the U.S.-bound refugees and immigrants from the region. CDC also conducts collaborative research with the Thai Ministry of Public Health in the area of HIV care and prevention. The first successful drug therapy to prevent mothers from passing the HIV virus to their offspring was developed in a CDC program in Thailand. The results of this work have global policy implications and prevented thousands of newborn children from contracting AIDS from their HIV-infected mothers. CDC also works closely with the Thai Ministry of Public Health on monitoring the emergence of new infectious diseases like SARS, bird flu, and more recently, H1N1. This collaboration has helped both Thailand and the U.S. better understand this novel strain of flu, and to document what can be done to limit spread and reduce mortality.
Third, the Armed Forces Research Institute of Medical Sciences (AFRIMS) conduct basic and applied research for development of diagnostic tests, drugs and vaccines for infectious diseases. In addition, AFRIMS undertakes collaborative research with Thai and international partners on a number of diseases, including HIV/AIDS, malaria, and Japanese encephalitis. AFRIMS has active drug and vaccine development programs designed to protect U.S. Service Members and the global community from malaria, dengue, infectious diarrhea , and HIV. An example of one of AFRIMS recent achievements is its HIV vaccine development program, first begun in 1991, which is now in the end stages of testing an HIV vaccine, for which the interim results will be announced in September of this year.
Fourth, the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) conducts a number of activities that contribute to human health, ranging from promoting international standards for animal health, to improved measures for food safety. The Foreign Agricultural Service (FAS) and the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) both have offices in Bangkok and support activities in the region. APHIS veterinarians also play a key role in building capacity to combat against the avian flu, as nearly all cases of this disease have been attributed to direct contact with infected birds.
Other U.S. agencies in the region also contribute to our network of public health research: the Naval Medical Research Unit (NAMRU) based in Jakarta and Singapore’s Regional Emerging Disease Intervention Center (REDI), operated in collaboration with the CDC and the U.S. National Institute of Health.
Together Thailand and the U.S. are producing world-class contributions to medical knowledge. In only the latest example, last month AFRIMS and CDC hosted with Thailand a ground breaking scientific conference on zoonotic [diseases that can be transmitted between animals and humans] and vector-borne diseases, with participation of over 170 scientists from the U.S. and the Asia Pacific region. Participants shared scientific information on public health threats to the region and discussed ways to foster research collaboration and programmatic networking.
For the past several months, H1N1 Flu has dominated global headlines. It is important to note that U.S. Government agencies have been working with the Royal Thai Government on preparing for a global pandemic for many years. USA-funded partners have assisted the Thai Ministry of Public Health in the development of school-based pandemic preparedness plans and CDC has been working to strengthen Thailand’s surveillance and response capabilities. U.S. collaboration has been key in efforts towards prevention, containment, and treatment of this pandemic that has already claimed over 80 lives and may have infected as many as 500,000 people in Thailand. CDC has worked closely with the Thai MoPH on testing samples and advising on control measures, while AFRIMS tests samples and is tracking the outbreak regionally. In addition, CDC coordinates closely with the World Health Organization both regarding Thailand and the region. A tribute to Thailand’s strength in the health care industry is its preparation of the H1N1 vaccine. Thailand will likely be one of the first nations to produce this vaccine for its people.
As I have outlined in my talk today, there are many good reasons why there are a significant number of health professionals at the U.S. Embassy in Bangkok. Thailand and the United States have a long history of friendship and collaboration on many fronts, including health. Thailand is also a unique country in this sub-region with the considerable infrastructure, capacity, and a willingness to collaborate with others which creates opportunities for both our countries. Importantly, Thailand is also a tremendous global asset working alongside the United States with other multilateral agencies like WHO to fight global infectious diseases.
As an organization that has as one of its key goals, improving health for the world, I am sure the Rotary Club can appreciate the importance of our U.S. Government health initiatives in Thailand.