The Celebration Symposium of SEAMEO TROPMED Was Successfully Held

On 30 August 2016, the 50th Anniversary Celebration Symposium of Southeast Asian Ministers of Education Organization Tropical Medicine and Public Health (SEAMEO TROPMED) Network on the theme of “Achievements and Challenges for Sustainable Development in Health”, was held in Bangkok, Thailand. More than 200 participants including senior officials of the Ministries of Health, the Ministries of Education of 11 Southeast Asian Countries, Heads of SEAMEO and SEAMEO TROPMED Network, as well as relevant specialists and representatives of partners attended the symposium. H.E. Mme. Yang Xiuping, Secretary-General of ACC participated in the event.

H.E. Dr. Paulyn Jean Rusell-Ubial, Secretary of Health of the Philippines, delivered a keynote speech at the symposium. She briefed on the development of the Health Service of the Philippines and emphasized that the health sector in the region was still faced with many challenges, such as the rising proportion of HIV prevalence, the prevalent non-communicable diseases, drugs and terrorism threats. She pointed out that education was the cause of the cultivation of people. It was important to train qualified health workers for the regional health service. SEAMEO TROPMED Network had been playing a key role in promoting the sustainable development in health in the region. She appealed to all the participants with a rallying cry “All for Health towards Health for All”.

The symposium also discussed the topic of “Partnership in Sustainable Health Development”. Dr. Or Vandine, Director General for Health of the Ministry of health of Cambodia, introduced the development of health service of Cambodia, and the cooperation in human resource development with SEAMEO TROPMED Network. He said that high-quality health care played a crucial role for the sustainable development of ASEAN community. The government of Cambodia had taken such measures as improving health facilities and strengthening legislation to cope with the challenge of inadequate coverage of health care. The Vice President of Hanoi Medical University of Vietnam highlighted the importance of international cooperation in medical education, and proposed to strengthen cooperation in the fields of cross-border infectious disease, community nursing and family doctor. Professor of Asian Institute of Management of the Philippines and German expert on health, population and nutrition said that the global society was facing challenges like infection, climate change, income gap, insufficient funds for medical and health service, and called for joint efforts of all countries. It was expected that SEAMEO would continuously play its role in strengthening regional partnerships, so as to promote public health service in the region.