| Hakim Hayat |
STAKEHOLDERS in the health sector within this region should continue to work closely with each other to combat health issues such as non-communicable diseases (NCDs) by adopting new mechanisms beyond the traditional approach to public health education, as ongoing global challenges warrant more intervention, Dr Hajah Maslina binti Haji Mohsin, Deputy Permanent Secretary (Professional) at the Ministry of Health (MoH) urged yesterday.
Dr Hajah Maslina made this call in her welcoming speech while chairing the 12th Asean Senior Officials Meeting on Health Development (SOMHD) and its related meetings at the MoH building in Commonwealth Drive.
This year’s SOMHD, which will run for three days, is hosted by the MoH and is attended by over 100 delegates comprising senior health officials from Asean, China, Japan and South Korea.
She stated that a multi-sectoral approach is vital to combating NCDs which are causing many deaths in the region.
Dr Hajah Maslina added that this issue remains an ongoing challenge, particularly in terms of its impact on healthcare systems and socioeconomic development. She also commented that much of the world’s burden of disease arises from unhealthy behaviour, but people, she noted, still struggle to change these behaviours even if they have the awareness, intention and ability to do so.
On this ground, she stressed that the issue needs better understanding and that the traditional approach of just providing health education to the public is no longer sufficient.
“We need to look deeper and apply other mechanisms such as behavioural insights as a way to improve healthcare outcomes,” she further recommended.
Dr Hajah Maslina also stressed the need for countries involved to continue cooperating to address common health challenges in the region, such as emerging diseases, globalisation of travel and trade, increasing disease drug resistance, and universal health coverage. She also emphasised the need to ensure that the outcomes from the SOMHD meeting are in line with the Asean Post-2015 Health Development Agenda and the Sustainable Development Goals.
Dr Hajah Maslina binti Haji Mohsin, Deputy Permanent Secretary (Professional) at the Ministry of Health
Dr Justin Wong, Medical Superintendent of Public Health at the Ministry of Health. – PHOTOS: HAKIM HAYAT
An overview of the 12th Asean Senior Officials Meeting on Health Development (SOMHD)
One member of the meeting’s technical committee, Dr Justin Wong, Medical Superintendent of Public Health at MoH, said the annual meeting will assess the implementation of the mission outlines from the previous meeting, and also focus on implementing activities and delivering joint statements which will be highlighted at the Asean Health Ministers’ Meeting (AHHM), which Brunei will host later this year.
Four main agendas will be discussed in the AHHM: Promoting a healthy lifestyle, responding to all hazards and emerging threats, strengthening health systems and access to care, and ensuring food safety.
Dr Wong shared that some of the issues central to Brunei’s health sector in the AHHM meeting would be NCDs such as diabetes and obesity, which is part of the SOMHD’s Action Plan.
“Through this meeting, we would be able to learn and share best practices from other countries because country-to-country health issues in this region share commonalities – what happens in other countries also affect us,” he said, also citing the recent outbreak of communicable diseases such as the Zika virus as an example.
Rodora Turalde Babaran, Director of Human Development Directorate at the Asean Secretariat, said through this meeting they hope to be able to consider and decide on certain priorities on health development.
She said that the meeting will include the following agenda and discussion topics: The promotion of a healthy lifestyle; addressing NCDs; addressing the issue of emerging infectious diseases; the response to all health hazards, emergency threats and other pandemic threats; other issues such as antimicrobial resistance; the adoption of a document discussing ways to end all forms of malnutrition; follow-up actions to end HIV/AIDS; and also discussions on disaster health management.
Meanwhile, the MoH in a press statement said that these discussions are highly relevant to Brunei, as they are well aligned and in congruence with the ministry’s three strategic priorities: To inculcate the message “health is everyone’s business”, to prevent and control NCDs, and to deliver excellence in healthcare through the consolidation and realignment of the country’s healthcare services.
“Brunei Darussalam will play an important role in steering the SOMHD and AHHM meetings this year towards achieving valuable outcomes to improve the health and wellbeing of all in the country and the region,” added the press statement.
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