“While ASEAN Member States continue to work closely together within the health sector, Senior Officials Meeting on Health Development (SOMHD) recognises that multi-sectoral and inter-pillar cooperation are key to achieving regional improvement of health. Health sector has to work closely together with other stakeholders within our countries and also in the region to make a significant impact,” said SOMHD Chair Dr Hjh Maslina Binti Hj Mohsin, Deputy Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Health of Brunei Darussalam.
The 12th SOMHD and other related meetings were hosted and chaired by Brunei Darussalam’s Ministry of Health on 18-20 April 2017 in Bandar Seri Begawan.
In the meetings, the ASEAN senior health officials finalised the ASEAN Post 2015 Health Development Agenda (APDHA) Work Programme 2016-2020 activities of Health Cluster 1 on Promoting Healthy Lifestyles, Health Cluster 2 on Responding to all Hazards and Emerging Health Threats, Health Cluster 3 on Strengthening Health Systems and Access to Care, and Health Cluster 4 on Enhancing Food Safety.
Another task of SOMHD was to ascertain the continuous collaboration with Plus Three countries (China, Japan and Korea) in 2017 and 2018. One of the outcomes of the meeting was the identification of priority areas of collaboration taking into account the thrust of the APDHA Work Programmes for 2016-2020 and ASEAN 50th Anniversary commemorative activities.
The agreed priority areas of collaboration for 2017 to 2018 include Universal Health Coverage, Information Communication Technology for Healthcare, Non-Communicable Diseases, Traditional Medicine, Active Ageing, Human Resource for Health, Responding to Communicable and Emerging Health Threats, Antimicrobial Resistance, Ending All Forms of Malnutrition, Food Safety and Disaster Health Management.
The meeting also discussed policy advocacy interventions from the health sector. These include the development and finalisation of the ASEAN Leaders’ Declaration on Ending All Forms of Malnutrition and ASEAN Leaders’ Declaration of Commitment on Anti-Microbial Resistance. These are targeted for adoption by the 31st ASEAN Summit. Consultative meetings with relevant sectors around these cross-cutting concerns are on-going.
The conduct of 12th SOMHD and other related meetings demonstrated the proactive position of the health sector in addressing common health concerns within the region. The adoption of the APDHA Work Programmes for 2016-2020 ensures the regional implementation of key health related activities and continuation of collective efforts around priority areas within the ASEAN.
This annual meeting was attended by 118 delegates comprised of senior health officials from ASEAN Member States, China, Japan and the Republic of Korea.
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