Public Health Cooperation

By：BPOC Update：2016-05-25

On public health, the Ministers on Health of ASEAN and China signed an MOU on Health Cooperation at the Fourth ASEAN-China Health Ministers Meeting on 6 July 2012 in Phuket, Thailand. At the Fifth ASEAN-China Health Ministers Meeting on 19 September 2015 in Ha Noi, the Ministers welcomed the ASEAN-China cooperation in communicable diseases prevention and control, especially the collaboration on malaria, dengue fever, HIV and AIDS, and plague prevention and control in border areas. The Ministers committed to strengthen the ASEAN-China cooperation in capacity building for public health personnel in the region and in traditional medicine and its contribution to universal health care, where applicable. The Ministers welcome the sharing of experiences on using traditional medicine in strengthening primary health care.

On cooperation in quality inspection, two MOUs on Strengthening Sanitary and Phytosanitary Cooperation (SPS) and Strengthening Cooperation in the Field of Standards, Technical Regulations and Conformity Assessment (TBT) between ASEAN and China were signed on 20 November 2007 and 24 October 2009, respectively. In order to implement the MOUs, ASEAN-China Ministerial Meeting on Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine on SPS and TBT was established and held alternately every year. The latest Meeting on quality inspection was the 4th ASEAN-China Ministerial Meeting on Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine on SPS cooperation, which was held on 25 September 2014 in Nay Pyi Taw. At the Meeting, the Ministers reiterated the commitment to strengthen SPS cooperation between ASEAN and China and endorsed the new Plan of Action 2015 – 2016, covering cooperation in: (i) establishment of information notification and communication system; (ii) exchange of visits of relevant personnel of the Parties; (iii) organize training, seminar, conference and similar activities for narrowing the development gap within ASEAN and China; (iv) collaborative research in the areas of mutual interest; and (v) establishment of mechanism for consultation.