07 Nov 2018
Source: ASEAN Secretariat News
ASEAN Health Ministers renew commitment to fight communicable and emerging infectious diseases
BALI, 7 November 2018 – ASEAN Health Ministers and representatives from ASEAN Member States (AMS) reiterated commitment to secure ASEAN peoples from the threats of communicable and emerging infectious diseases at the recent meeting in Bali.
Ministry of Health – Indonesia hosted and chaired this meeting alongside the conduct of the 5th Global Health Security Agenda (GHSA) Ministerial Meeting. During the meeting, Professor Dr. Nila Farid Moeloek, Health Minister of Indonesia said, “ASEAN has a strong commitment to secure ASEAN from the threats of emerging infectious diseases, pandemics and other public health emergencies, as articulated and supported by the ASEAN Leaders through the ASEAN Post 2015 Health Development Agenda.”
Participants from Member States shared their respective regional and national commitments in securing the region from the threats of communicable and emerging infectious diseases. The discussion revolved around the common challenges, observations, and best practices in building national International Health Regulation (IHR) core capacities including biosafety and biosecurity; possible cross-border collaboration on global health security among ASEAN Member States (AMS); benefits of AMS in their full participation at the GHSA; and advancing the ASEAN partnerships through the initiatives on responding to all hazards and emerging threats with the non-health sectors, and non-state actors. The ASEAN Secretariat presented the consolidated summary of recommendations that will be further discussed for implementation in the 14th Meeting of the Senior Officials on Health Development in April 2019 in Siem Reap, Cambodia.
With the theme of ‘Advancing Global Partnerships’, the 5th GHSA Ministerial Meeting, held on 6-8 November 2018 in Bali, provided an overview of the progress achieved and challenges encountered in the phase 1 of GHSA. The progress of the implementation of action packages of the GHSA, with the support of 7 AMS either as leading or contributing countries, showcased accomplished global, regional and national initiatives on preventing, detecting and responding to emerging health threats or disease outbreaks. The GHSA 2024 Framework was also officially launched which established an approach that enhances and encourages coordination, active engagement, multi-sectorality, internal and external communication, and tracking of progress and impact.
Professor Eng Huot, Cambodia’s Secretary of State for Health, the current Chair of the ASEAN Health Ministers, strongly advocated for AMS’ participation in GHSA and fully supported the implementation of national and regional activities leading to the achievement of the vision, goals and targets contained in the GHSA 2024 Framework.