DECLARATION OF THE 5TH ASEAN HEALTH MINISTERS MEETING
ON HEALTHY ASEAN 2020

28-29 April 2000
Yogyakarta, Indonesia

WE, the Ministers of Health of ASEAN Member Countries, representing Brunei Darussalam, the Kingdom of Cambodia, the Republic of Indonesia, the Lao People’s Democratic Republic, Malaysia, the Union of Myanmar, the Republic of the Philippines, the Republic of Singapore, the Kingdom of Thailand, and the Socialist Republic of Viet Nam;

RECALLING that the ASEAN Vision 2020, adopted by the 2nd Informal Summit held in Kuala Lumpur in December 1997, envisioned ASEAN as a concert of Southeast Asian nations, outward looking, living in peace, stability and prosperity, bonded together in partnership in dynamic development and in a community of caring societies;

SUPPORTIVE of the need to promote social development and address the social impact of the financial and economic crisis as outlined in the Hanoi Plan of Action (HPA) implementing ASEAN Vision 2020 and adopted during the 6th ASEAN Summit held in Hanoi in December 1998;

RESPONDING to the call of the Ha Noi Declaration adopted by the Sixth ASEAN Summit held in Ha Noi in December 1998 that we shall, together, make sure that our people are assured of adequate medical care and access to essential medicines and that cooperation shall be stepped up in the control and prevention of communicable diseases, including HIV/AIDS;

FULLY AWARE that despite significant progress made in uplifting the quality of life of individuals in our region, health problems continue to be associated with poverty and are increasingly associated with urbanisation, industrialisation, environmental pollution, lifestyle diseases and stress-related conditions;

RECOGNIZING the need to prepare the health sector for the challenges and opportunities arising from globalisation and trade liberalisation;

ENCOURAGED by the notable progress made by the ASEAN Sub-Committee on Health and Nutrition and the ASEAN Task Force on AIDS in formulating action plans and programmes and in implementing regional activities on health, despite funding constraints;

Vision: “Healthy ASEAN 2020"

We envision by 2020 that health shall be at the centre of development and ASEAN cooperation in health shall be strengthened to ensure that our peoples are healthy in mind and body and living in harmony in safe environments.




Guiding Principles:

1. Emphasise health as a fundamental right of our peoples;

2. Health development is a shared responsibility and must involve greater participation and empowerment of the people, communities and institutions;

3. ASEAN cooperation shall strive to achieve social justice and equity in health development and solidarity in action towards a healthy paradigm that emphasizes health promotion and disease prevention;

4. Political commitment to strengthen and intensify ASEAN cooperation in health development and to mobilise resources at the national, regional, and international levels must derive from the highest level of policy and governance;

5. ASEAN cooperation in health development must be guided by well-defined and focused strategic policies which emphasize the regional perspective and value-added element in all undertakings, while keeping in mind the specific development requirements of Member Countries; and

6. The organizational machinery for pursuing ASEAN cooperation in health development must be strengthened to achieve better coordination and integration across related development sectors.




Mission:

1. Strengthen and further intensify ASEAN cooperation in health to ensure that health concerns are mainstreamed in the development effort;

2. Ensure that health development concerns are effectively integrated into the larger scheme of regional cooperation;

3. Promote advocacy and enhance the state of public awareness of health related issues;

4. Ensure availability and accessibility of safe, affordable, efficacious and quality health related products and services to meet the needs of ASEAN;

5. Strengthen the national and collective ASEAN capacity on the issues of health implications from globalization and trade liberalization; and

6. Enhance the competitiveness of ASEAN health related industries taking into account the strength and diversity among ASEAN Member Countries.




Strategies:

1. Promote greater emphasis on health promotion and disease prevention;

2. Intensify human resources development and capacity building in identified priority areas;

3. Promote multi-sectoral integration of health concerns; and

4. Strengthen international partnership and alliance.




Programme of Action:

1. Develop and implement activities on: health promotion and advocacy; promotion of healthy lifestyle; tobacco-free ASEAN; health systems (including decentralisation); health sector financing (including health insurance); and health legislation/regulation.

2. Expedite efforts to implement the following existing plans of action/work programs:

   • ASEAN Medium-Term Plan of Collaboration on Health and Nutrition (1998-2002);

   • ASEAN Work Programme on Community-Based Care Programmes for the Elderly;

   • ASEAN Plan of Action for Strengthening Disease Surveillance;

   • ASEAN Medium-Term Work Programme on Tuberculosis Control;

   • ASEAN Medium-Term Work Programme to Operationalise the ASEAN Regional Programme on HIV/AIDS Prevention and Control; and

   • ASEAN Technical Cooperation in Pharmaceuticals, Phase V (1997-2001).

3. Expedite the implementation of activities on malaria, polio, disability prevention and rehabilitation and develop activities to promote the use of traditional medicine.

4. Address the impact of globalisation/trade liberalisation on the health sector:

   • Harmonise product registration requirements and standards for health products;

   • Work toward gradual harmonisation of standards and regulations for health services;

   • Develop strategies to strengthen ASEAN’s capacity and competitiveness on health-related products (pharmaceuticals, including traditional medicine and biomedical products, including vaccines) and health services;

   • Assess the potential health impact of globalisation and international trade agreements, including TRIPS and GATS;

   • Develop a system to monitor the health of vulnerable groups in ASEAN countries;

   • To strengthen collaboration on health research and development with a focus on pharmaceuticals, including traditional medicines and biomedical products, including vaccines;

   • Formulate an ASEAN Food Safety Policy and an ASEAN Framework on Food Safety;

   • Collaborate more closely with policy makers in the trade sector, and

   • Intensify development of human resources for health in the area of globalisation and trade liberalisation.

5. To work together in representing ASEAN’s interests in regional and international meetings.




Strengthening Mechanisms for Collaboration

1. The ASEAN Health Ministers Meeting shall be held once every two years, subject to review;

2. Recommend that the existing ASEAN Sub-Committee on Health and Nutrition be elevated to the Senior Officials Meeting on Health Development which will meet at least once a year;

3. Establish an Experts Group on Health Policy/Reform;

4. Establish an Experts Group to develop strategies to strengthen ASEAN’s capacity and competitiveness on health-related products and services;

5. Both Experts Groups shall report to the Senior Officials Meeting on Health Development;

6. The ASEAN Task Force on AIDS, the ASEAN Working Group on Technical Cooperation in Pharmaceuticals, the Experts Group on Disease Surveillance and the Experts Group on Tuberculosis Control shall report to the Senior Officials Meeting on Health Development;

7. Recommend that a special unit for health development be established at the ASEAN Secretariat comprising an Assistant Director, a Senior Officer, a Technical Officer and a Technical Assistant;

8. Establish active intra-sectoral links with related ASEAN bodies through the ASEAN Secretariat;

9. Strengthen self-reliant regional cooperation by encouraging cost-sharing and by utilising the lead shepherd approach;

10. Intensify the networking of health institutions, health professionals and centres of excellence in teaching and research in the region;

11. Deepen and expand the mutually beneficial cooperation with the World Health Organization (WHO), the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS) and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), other international organisations, the ASEAN Dialogue Partners, NGOs, professional groups and the private sector;

12. Propose that HIV/AIDS issues be included for discussion at the 4th ASEAN Informal Summit scheduled from 24 to 25 November 2000 in Singapore; and

13. Recommend that an ASEAN Heads of Government Summit on HIV/AIDS be convened in conjunction with the 7th ASEAN Summit to be held in 2001 in Brunei Darussalam.

SIGNED on this 29th Day of April 2000 in Yogyakarta, Indonesia



H.E. Pehin Abdul Aziz Umar  Acting Minister of Health  Brunei Darussalam	H.E. Prof. Dr. Mya Oo Deputy Health Minister Union of Myamnar
H.E. Dr. Hong Sun Huot  Senior Minister And Minister of Health Kingdom of Cambodia	H.E. Dr. Milagros L. Fernandez Undersecretary of Health Republic of The Philippines
H.E. Dr. Achmad Sujudi, MHA Minister of Health  Republic of Indonesia	H.E. Mr. Lim Hng Kiang Minister of Health Republic of Singapore
H.E. Dr. Ponmek Dalaloy Minister of Health Lao People’s Democratic Republic	H.E. Mr. Kamron Na Lamphun Deputy Minister of Public Health Kingdom of Thailand
H.E. Dato’ Chua Jui Meng Minister of Health Malaysia	H.E. Prof. Dr. Do Nguyen Phuong Minister of Health The Socialist Republic of Viet Nam