Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare

Back

October 8th, 2008

Office of International Cooperation,

International Affairs Division,

Minister's Secretariat

Ministry of Health,Labour and Welfare, Japan

1-2-2 Kasumigaseki,Chiyoda-ku,Tokyo 100-8916, Japan

Tel: +81-3-3595-2404 (Direct)

Fax: +81-3-3502-6678

The 6th ASEAN & Japan High Level Officials Meeting on Caring Societies
Outline of Summary

1. Theme

Healthy Next Generation

: strengthening Joint Collaboration between Health and Social Welfare -

2. About meeting

Duration and venue

From 8 to 11 September 2008, MITA KAIGISHO, Tokyo

Organizers

Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare, JAPAN (MHLW)

Japan International Corporation of Welfare Services (JICWELS)

Collaborators

The ASEAN Secretariat

WHO Regional Office for the Western Pacific (WHO/WPRO)
Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA)

Participants

36 High level officials (including 2 Under Secretraries) from Brunei Darussalam, Kingdom of Cambodia, Republic of Indonesia, Lao People’s Democratic Republic, Malaysia, The Union of Myanmar, Republic of the Philippines, Kingdom of Thailand, Socialist Republic of Vietnam*

* Republic of Singapore did not attend this year’s meeting.

2 officials from ASEAN Secretariat, 1 official from WPRO

3. Programme

Monday 8 September 2008

· Study visit (Saitama Medical Centre, Health Centres in Saitama prefecture etc.)

· Welcome Reception (hosted by Hon. Vice Minister Takeshi Erikawa, MHLW and Mr. Tatsuhiko Sakamoto, Chairman, Board of Directors, JICWELS)

Tuesday 9 September 2008  (MC: Dr. Hajime Inoue, Director, Office of International Cooperation, International Affairs Division, Minister's Secretariat, MHLW)

· Opening Address (Dr. Takashi Taniguchi, Assistant Minister for Technical Affairs, MHLW and Mr. Tatsuhiko Sakamoto, Chairman, Board of Directors, JICWELS)Introduction ”ASEAN-Japan Collaboration in the Development of Health and Welfare Services” (Mr. Hidehiko Itaya, Assistant Director-General for International Policy Planning, Minister’s Secretariat, MHLW)

· Keynote Speech “Healthy Next Generation in Japan, Past, Present and Future” (Dr. Yasuhide Nakamura, Professor, Department of International Collaboration, Graduate School of Human Sciences, Osaka University)

· Presentation 1 “Ensuring and Protecting Maternal and Child Survival in Asia” (Dr. Narimah Awin, Regional Adviser for Making Pregnancy Safer, WHO Regional Office for the Western Pacific (WHO/WPRO))

· Presentation 2 “ASEAN Strategic Framework and Plan of Action for Social Welfare, Family and Children” (Dr. Bounpheng Philavong, Assistant Director, Head of Health and Population Unit, Bureau for Resources Development, and Ms. Mega Irena, Senior Officer, Human Development Unit, Bureau for Resources Development, The ASEAN Secretariat)

· Presentation 3 “International Collaboration for Child Health and Welfare” (Mr. Naoyuki Kobayashi, Team Director, Reproductive Health Team, Group III (health I), Human Development Department, Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA))

· Country presentations (ASEAN countries)

Wednesday 10 September 2008  (MC: Dr. Hajime Inoue, Director, Office of International Cooperation, International Affairs Division, Minister's Secretariat, MHLW)

· Country presentations (ASEAN countries)

· Breakout Session

Group 1:

“Healthy Next Generation: supported by community and civil society”

Group 2:

“Healthy Next Generation: supported by the central and local government”

· Pre-closing Party

Thursday 11 September 2008   (MC: Mr. Daisuke Tanaka, Deputy Director, Office of International Cooperation, International Affairs Division, Minister's Secretariat, MHLW)

· Report from Breakout Discussions

· Summary, Conclusion and Recommendations  (Mr. Daisuke Tanaka, Deputy Director, Office of International Cooperation, International Affairs Division, Minister's Secretariat, MHLW)

- General Overview of the 6th Meeting (ASEAN Countries, ASEAN Secretariat, and WHO/WPRO)

- Closing Remarks (Mr. Hidehiko Itaya, Assistant Director-General for International Policy Planning, Minister's Secretariat, MHLW)Adjourn

The country report submitted to this meeting by each participant country is updated in the homepage of the Japan International Corporation of Welfare Services (JICWELS).

4. Outline of Discussion

In the keynote speech, Prof. Nakamura introduced the approach used in Japan: to deliver maternal and child health and welfare services from post-war days to present with a particular emphasis on the use of the maternal and child health handbook. In the subsequent presentations of WHO/WPRO, ASEAN secretariat and JICA, they presented their various approaches and efforts pertaining to the delivery of health and social welfare services for mothers and children as advocated by WHO, ASEAN and JICA respectively. In addition, participants shared information and experience with each other through their country presentations which described the current situation, their challenges and their best practices. Based on the information presented during this high level officials meeting, participants exchanged their views about their policies for delivering maternal and child health care and social welfare and actively discussed common challenges and activities to address these challenges which they intend to pursue in the future at the national, regional and community levels, from the viewpoint of the current status and ideals of health and social welfare services concerning the “healthy next generation”.

During this year’s High Level Officials Meeting, the following items were agreed to by the participants.

· The participants will report on the proceedings, discussions, recommendations and outcomes of this meeting on maternal and child health and welfare to their respective Ministers, other senior officials in their own countries and request the ASEAN secretariat to report to SOMHD and SOMSWD.

· The participants affirmed that the ASEAN and Japan High Level Officials Meeting serves as a valuable and timely platform to follow-up decisions made by ASEAN+3 Ministerial Meetings and Senior Officials Meetings on health and social welfare sectors.

· The participants declared that the deliberations and discussions during this meeting are important and relevant to short and long-term challenges on maternal and child health and welfare facing the ASEAN countries and Japan.

For improving services on Maternal and Child Health and Welfare, the participants shared the importance of;

· Collaboration between Ministries responsible for health and social welfare sectors,

· Collaboration between central and local government,

· Collaboration among constituencies - Government, community and civil society including NGOs and private sector.

For future improvement of maternal and child health and welfare services in countries, the participants recommended the following;

· To strengthen the co-ordination between health and welfare systems and communication mechanism between two ministries/sectors,

· To conduct an assessment and to identify gaps and needs for collaboration between health and welfare sectors,

· To improve data collection and analysis systems on maternal and child health and welfare,

· To document best practices on maternal and child health and welfare,

· To develop integrated strategic framework on maternal and child health and welfare,

· To strengthen network among ASEAN member countries and Japan in order to strengthen capacity and sharing information and expertise,

· To continue cooperation with other stakeholders such as international organizations, NGOs and community.

Finally, the participants reaffirmed that this High Level Officials Meeting is very fruitful and expressed their high expectations for its continuance and further development of approach and structure of this meeting in the future.

Reference
(During the course of this meeting)

The Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare, Japan(MHLW) held “East Asian Meeting of High-Level Officials on Caring Societies” annually from 1997 to 2002 in order to strengthen the regional cooperation among East Asian countries from the viewpoint of the idea of “World Welfare Plan” that Japan had advocated in the Lyons summit in 1996. Through these East Asian Meetings of High-Level Officials on Caring Societies, the MHLW contributed significantly to further strengthening cooperation in caring society fields in the East Asian region. On the basis of these success in conducting the East Asian Meetings of High-Level Officials on Caring Societies, the MHLW, since 2003, has also held the ASEAN & Japan High Level Officials Meeting on Caring Societies and has invited high-level administrative officials who are in charge of health and social welfare policy from the ASEAN-10 countries to continue strengthening the development of human resources and to further promote collaborative relationships between the ASEAN countries and Japan.

During this period, ASEAN also began to examine the potential for further strengthening the cooperation between Japan, China, and South Korea in the health and welfare sectors, and the ASEAN+3 Health Ministers Meeting and the ASEAN+3 Ministerial Meeting on Social Welfare were instituted in 2004. So far, 1st ASEAN+3 Health Ministers meeting was held in Malaysia in April, 2004. The 2nd meeting was held in Myanmar in June, 2006, and the 3rd meeting is scheduled to be held in the Philippines in October, 2008. Also, the 1st ASEAN+3 Ministerial Meeting on Social Welfare and Development was held in Thailand in 2004 and 2nd ASEAN+3 Ministerial Meeting was held in Viet Nam in 2007. MHLW is making consistent and significant contributions to the activities of these ASEAN+3 frameworks.

The themes of ASEAN & Japan High Level Officials Meeting on Caring Societies are determined based on the proposals of the ASEAN countries and the ASEAN Secretariat and recommendations of the ASEAN+3 Health Minister’s Meeting and the ASEAN+3 Ministerial Meeting on Social Welfare etc. ASEAN & Japan High Level Officials Meeting on Caring Societies have been implemented annually during the last four years since 2003. During the 1st stage covering the period from 2003 to 2006 the following main themes were set annually. These were “Human Resource Development for Social Welfare and Health Services” for 2003, “Development of Human Resources and Implications of Aging Societies” for 2004, “Health and Welfare Services for Children and People with Disabilities” in 2005, and “Support to Vulnerable People (Children and Women)” for 2006. During the 2nd stage starting with 2007 when the 5th Meeting was held, it focussed on “Community Services for the Elderly” under the main theme of “Collaboration of Social Welfare and Health Services and the Development of Human Resources and Community” During this year (2008), the 6th Meeting was held. The number of participants from the ASEAN countries (from 2003 to 2008) who attended these meetings to date, now total to 204 officials.

Additionally, these High Level Officials Meetings serve as a vital platform which supports the ASEAN+3 Health Minister’s Meetings and the ASEAN+3 Ministerial Meetings on Social Welfare among the ASEAN countries. In particular, relevant approaches for strengthening cooperation between different sectors including health and welfare sectors are operationalised, triggered by participation in these High Level Officials Meetings. The proceedings, discussions, and recommendations of the previous five High Level Official Meetings were reported to the above-mentioned ASEAN+3 Meetings and ASEAN expressed profound gratitude for this initiative by Japan and requested to continue these types of meetings and maintain the focus on the cooperation between health and welfare services. Furthermore, the proceedings, discussions, and recommendations of this year’s meeting are scheduled to be presented to the 3rd ASEAN+3 Health Ministers Meeting scheduled to be held in Manila, Philippines during October, 2008.


TOP