(09 October 2020) — The 6th Meeting of the AHC1: Promoting Healthy Lifestyle was conducted online on 05-07 October 2020. The Meeting was participated by representatives from all the ten ASEAN member states. The Philippine delegation to the Meeting was headed by Dir. Napoleon Arevalo of the Disease Control and Prevention Bureau (DPCB), as the Philippine Country Coordinator of AHC1. The delegation consisted of Philippine ASEAN Contact Points of health priorities under the AHC1, from the DPCB, the Health Policy and Development Planning Bureau, and the National Nutrition Council.
The three-day Meeting of ASEAN Health Cluster 1 was chaired by Dr. Noraryana Hassan, Country Coordinator of AHC1 from the Ministry of Health- Malaysia and by the Vice-Chair from the Ministry of Health and Sports of the Republic of the Union of Myanmar. An open session of the Meeting was held on the second day and was also participated by AHC 1 development partner representatives as follows:
- Alive and Thrive
- Alzheimer Disease International (ADI)
- Centre for Mental Health, University of Melbourne
- MS Symphony Exercise Clinic (TBC)
- Southeast Asia Tobacco Control Alliance (SEATCA)
- United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF)
- World Food Programme (WFP)
The three-day meeting enabled the (1) sharing and discussion on outcomes of ASEAN Meetings, Health-Related Meetings and other related events that are relevant to ASEAN Health Cluster 1; (2) follow up on the outcomes of the Fifth Meeting of ASEAN Health Cluster 1 held on March 2019 in Luang Prabang, Lao PDR; (3) discussion on the updates on the implementation of project activities under the adopted Work Programme 2016-2020 of ASEAN Health Cluster 1, as well as discuss priority follow up initiatives for completed project activities for consideration in the next work programme; (4) exchange and updates with partners on priorities and programmes; (5) discussion on updates, preliminary findings and recommendations on the on-going Mid-Term Assessment of the APHDA; (6) discussion and agreement on considerations, processes and timeline in the development of the draft Work Programme of ASEAN Health Cluster 2021-2025; and (7) agreements on immediate next steps and ways forward on matters tackled in the Meeting.
The Bureau of International Cooperation thanked the delegates for a successful meeting and looked forward for the upcoming AHC1 planning session.
Dr. Norhayati Rusli, SOMHD Malaysia, welcomed the participants from the ten ASEAN Member States (Brunei Darussalam, Cambodia, Indonesia, Lao PDR, Malaysia, Myanmar, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Viet Nam) during the Opening Ceremony of the 6th Meeting of the ASEAN Health Cluster 1 on 5 October 2020.