JOINT STATEMENT
7th ASEAN PLUS THREE HEALTH MINISTERS MEETING
 September 2017, Bandar Seri Begawan, Brunei Darussalam

 1. WE, the Ministers of Health of ASEAN Member States (AMS), representing Brunei Darussalam, the Kingdom of Cambodia, the Republic of Indonesia, the Lao People’s Democratic Republic, Malaysia, the Republic of the Union of Myanmar, the Republic of the Philippines, the Republic of Singapore, the Kingdom of Thailand, and the Socialist Republic of Viet Nam and the Ministers of Health of the People’s Republic of China, Japan and the Republic of Korea convened the 7th ASEAN Plus Three Health Ministers Meeting (APTHMM) in September 2017 in Bandar SeriBegawan, Brunei Darussalam.

 2. We agree that our health development collaboration shall align to the ASEAN Post-2015 Health Development Agenda with specific focus on collaborative areas that include common issues of concern such as Universal Health Coverage (UHC), ICT for healthcare, non-communicable diseases, traditional and complementary medicine, active ageing, human resource for health, responding to communicable and emerging health threats and food safety as well as issues recently highlighted such as Antimicrobial Resistance, Ending All Forms of Malnutrition and Disaster Health Management.

 3. We acknowledge the importance of the role of social, behavioral, and physical contributors to health whereby health is not just limited to a simple biological model of the treatment of illnesses. Improving health therefore requires a continuum of interventions from preconception to ageing, with seamless engagement of multi-sectoral stakeholders focusing on issues that include financial and organisational coordination, supportive national and local policies, and adequate resources so as to achieve the best health outcomes and ensure high quality of life throughout the life course.

 4. We agree to strengthen our joint efforts in advocating, facilitating and implementing relevant social and economic interventions in addressing non-communicable diseases and its risk factors including tobacco use, harmful use of alcohol and unhealthy diet, as well as sedentary lifestyle.

 5. We commit to the global strategy and action plan on ageing and health 2016-2020 which was adopted at the Sixty-ninth World Health Assembly in May 2016 which calls for commitment to action on healthy ageing in every country and develop multisectoral initiatives that support the development of age-friendly environments; alignment of health systems focusing on primary health care to the needs of older populations; development of sustainable and equitable systems for providing long-term care (home, communities, institutions); and improvement in the measurement, monitoring, and research on healthy ageing. In this regard, we recognize the importance of encouraging community-based integrated care and functional recovery care of elderly people including human resource development.

 6. We reaffirm our commitments to the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development towards achieving Universal Health Coverage which includes financial risk protection, access to quality essential health-care services and access to safe, effective, quality and affordable essential medicines and vaccines for all. We therefore task the ASEAN Plus Three SOMHD to accelerate the progress towards UHC in all countries by building up the national and regional capacity to assess and manage the equitable, efficient, resilient and sustainable health systems to support UHC, jointly with development partners including the activities under the ASEAN plus three UHC Network, and any other relevant initiatives including high-level advocacy where appropriate. We commit to collectively advance the issue of UHC to the highest regional and global forum, including the United Nations General Assembly. We also note Japan’s efforts to develop the ASEAN-Japan UHC Initiative.

 7. We take note of the existing ASEAN Plus Three health cooperation in the prevention and control of communicable and emerging infectious diseases and commit to further strengthen the cooperation towards reducing the impact of these diseases; as well as improving our emergency preparedness and risk reduction against infectious disease outbreaks and other health threats, including disasters.

 8. We acknowledge the potential health activities to be undertaken under the ASEAN Plus Three and therefore urge ASEAN Plus Three SOMHD to consider initiatives that are identified as regional in nature to be incorporated in the Work Programmes of the ASEAN Health Clusters, in line with ASEAN Cooperation Projects mechanism that has a proposal and approval process facilitated by the ASEAN Secretariat.

 9. We recognize and appreciate the contribution by, and further commit to collaborate closely with development partners, including the World Health Organization, the development banks, bilateral development partners, civil society organizations and private sectors respecting the criteria of engagement with ASEAN.

  We look forward to further exchanges of views and collaboration in health development at our next Meeting in Cambodia in 2019.