The ASEAN Health Ministers Meet to Discuss Health Development for 600 millions ASEAN people

The health ministers of 10 ASEAN countries have participated in the official meeting to discuss health development for 600 millions ASEAN people. The meeting focused on 5 main issues including diabetic, hypertension, tobacco and alcohol consumption control, universal health coverage, HIV getting to zero, and field epidemiology training network (FETN) to immediately control communicable diseases.

 

This afternoon (5 July 2012) at Movenpick Hotel in Phuket Province, Mr.Witthaya Buranasiri, the Public Health Minister of Thailand officially open the 11^th ASEAN Health Ministers Meeting. The main theme is ASEAN community 2015: Opportunities and Challenges to Health). The ASEAN Health Ministers involved in this meeting include Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, Vietnam, Lao PDR, Myanmar, Cambodia and Dr. Surin Pitsuwan, the Secretary-General of ASEAN. The ASEAN Health Ministers Meeting convenes every two years. The previous meeting in 2010 was in Singapore.

 

Mr.Witthaya Buranasiri was assigned by the prime-minister Yingluck Shinawatra to give the welcome speech in the opening ceremony. The prime-minister of Thailand focuses on health development which is important for economic development. This can be achieved by establishing universal health coverage for 600 millions people in 10 ASEAN countries. The ASEAN universal health coverage can be a role model for other countries. In Thailand, the universal health coverage has started since 40 years ago and achieved universal health coverage only 10 years ago. Thailand started the universal health coverage when the national income was only 400 USD per capita per year and Thailand achieves universal health coverage when the GDP per capita was only 2,000 USD/ person/ year. Therefore, the countries do not have to wait until they are rich to start and achieve universal health coverage.

 

There are 5 issues in the AHMM. The first issue is the accessibility to essential services for diabetes and hypertension patients. The second issue is to control tobacco use and alcohol consumption, especially taxation, free trade agreement, and prohibition of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) of tobacco and alcohol companies, as well as illicit trade of tobacco. The third issue is the universal health coverage. The forth issue is to reduce HIV and the last issue is ASEAN Plus Three Field Epidemiology Training Program.

 

The tendency of overall NCDs situation has been continuously increased in all ASEAN countries. It was reported that 2.5 million people die per year (or approximately 60 percent of total death). The causes of NCDs include smoking, alcohol drinking, physical inactivities, and inappropriate food intake. The first four chronic diseases include Coronary Heart Disease, Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease, Non-insulin Dependent Diabetes, and Cancer. The direction of disease is consistent with other countries in the world. The World Health Organization (WHO) reports that from total 57 million deaths in the world, some 36 million people died per year according to NCDs. The first cause of death is Heart Disease (48 percent), followed by Cancer (21 percent), Chronic Lung Diseases (12 percent), and Diabetes (3 percent).

 

We need to accelerate implementations of measures to reduce smoking and alcohol drinking, to increase physical activities, to screen high risk group, to reduce incurrent disease, rational use of drugs, and to live healthily.

 

In ASEAN, approximately 1.5 million people were infected by HIV, including 1.4 million adults and 500,000 females. Total number of annual death was 100,000 people. The risk behaviours are unsafe sex and IVDUs.

 

The ten health ministers commit to the joint statement for development. Firstly, the collective movement on UHC agenda will be discussed at the ASEAN Summit and United Nations General Assembly and ASEAN plus three UHC network. Secondly, commit to strengthen the implementation of United Nation Agreement on NCDs based on WHO indicators and goals. Thirdly, commit to HIV control which aims to achieve getting to triple zero targets (no discrimination, no new infectious, and no death from HIV). Lastly, the member states will work together to cope with the Emerging infectious diseases (EID) and other diseases such as Dengue and Malaria – resistance by eliminating the root of problem, providing and rational use of drugs, and strengthen epistemologist network in ASEAN.