Philippine Health Officials Attend 13^th ASEAN Health Ministers’  Meeting in Brunei  

PHL Officials (Undersecretary Lilibeth C. David, the PHL’s Senior Official for Health and Development [2^nd from R]; Ambassador Meynardo LB. Montealegre [rightmost]; Dr. Mario C. Villaverde, DOH Undersecretary for the Office for Health Regulation [leftmost]; and Dr. Susan Pineda-Mercado, Presidential Consultant for International Health Concerns [2^nd from L]), with other Heads of Delegation, pose for a group photo during the 13^th ASEAN Health Ministers’ Meeting (13^th AHMM) and Related Meetings held on 03-07 September 2017 in Bandar Seri Begawan.

13 September 2017, Bandar Seri Begawan – Officials from the PHL’s Department of Health (DOH), led by Dr. Lilibeth C. David, Undersecretary for the Office for Policy and Health Systems and the PHL’s Senior Official for Health and Development, attended the 13^th ASEAN Health Ministers’ Meeting (13^th AHMM) and Related Meetings held on September 03 to 07 at the International Convention Centre (ICC) in Bandar Seri Begawan.

Hosted by Brunei’s Ministry of Health (MoH), said Meetings were attended by over 150 delegates comprised of Ministers and senior health officials from ASEAN Member States (AMS), China, Japan and South Korea. 

During the 13^th AHMM, Ministers endorsed the work plan of four working-level clusters of ASEAN health cooperation, in support of the attainment of goals under the ASEAN’s Post-2015 Health Development Agenda, as follows: 1) Promoting Healthy Lifestyle; 2) Responding to All Hazards and Emerging Threats; 3) Strengthening Health Systems and Access to Care; and 4) Ensuring Food Safety.

Ministers also endorsed three (3) declarations during the 13^th AHMM, to be proposed to ASEAN leaders during the 31^st ASEAN Summit in Manila this November, as follows: 1) Ending all forms of malnutrition; 2) Combating anti-microbial resistance; and 3) Disaster Health Management.

Prior to the closing of the 13^th AHMM proper, Health Ministers of other ASEAN Member States were presented PHL Chairmanship Commemorative Coins by Undersecretary David, assisted by Dr. Susan Pineda-Mercado, Presidential Consultant for International Health Concerns, and witnessed by PHL Ambassador Meynardo LB. Montealegre.

The 14^th AHMM and Related Meetings will be held in Cambodia in 2019 with the proposed theme, “Accelerating Health for All in ASEAN.” END

Undersecretary Lilibeth C. David, the PHL’s Senior Official for Health and Development (right), delivers the PHL’s intervention during the 13^th ASEAN Health Ministers’ Meeting (13^th AHMM) and Related Meetings held on 03-07 September 2017 in Bandar Seri Begawan. Sitting beside her is Dr. Susan Pineda-Mercado, Presidential Consultant for International Health Concerns.

Undersecretary Lilibeth C. David, the PHL’s Senior Official for Health and Development, delivering her Welcome Message for the Side Event hosted by the Philippines, entitled “NCD Prevention and Control: Together Towards One Healthy ASEAN.”

PHL Ambassador Meynardo LB. Montealegre (center), with members of the PHL delegation and Embassy personnel, poses for a group photo following the lunch hosted by the Ambassador at his official residence.

For more information, visit www.bruneipe.dfa.gov.ph/ www.philippine-embassybrunei.org.