ASEAN Health Ministers Meeting kicks off

The 14th ASEAN Health Ministers Meeting, with the theme ‘Promoting Health of ASEAN People’, officially opened in Siem Reap, Cambodia, on August 29.

At the opening ceremony
At the opening ceremony

The meeting was attended by Cambodian Deputy Prime Minister and Defence Minister Tea Banh; ASEAN Secretary General Lim Jock Hoi; Health Ministers of ASEAN countries and representatives of partner countries: China, Japan and the Republic of Korea. The delegation of Vietnamese Ministry of Health led by Minister Nguyen Thi Kim Tien attended the meeting.

Speaking at the opening of the event, Cambodian Deputy Prime Minister Tea Banh highlighted the efforts of Cambodia in health care for all people through strengthening health infrastructure construction, human resource training and additional funding. Currently, Cambodia is actively implementing the Social Support System for the period 2016-2025 to expand the health care network, towards the goal of universal healthcare by 2030.

As the current ASEAN problems, Cambodian Deputy Prime Minister Tea Banh emphasised that counterfeit and poor quality drugs are a very serious issue, requiring ASEAN countries to work together to resolve issues within the country and region, as well as the world. Counterfeit and poor quality medicines are a factor that seriously affects the health, life and finances of people in many ASEAN countries.

On this occasion, the Cambodian Deputy Prime Minister called on ASEAN health sector leaders to work together to improve and promote health cooperation across the region even further by bridging the gap in health service quality. He also called on ASEAN countries to work together to prepare all conditions to cope with any health disaster, especially the outbreak of regional epidemics and other disasters caused by climate change.

The ASEAN countries were urged to share experiences, technology as well as resources and professional training to provide high quality health care to the people.

The meeting, taking place from August 26 to 28, focuses on four key topics, including combating counterfeit and substandard drugs; ensuring health care financing; strengthening the capacity to implement the international health regulations of World Health Organization; and innovations in health care strengthening.