APEC Health Ministers issue Statement on Health and the Economy

APEC Health Ministers issued a statement at the conclusion of a two-day gathering of the Third APEC High Level Meeting on Health and the Economy.

Ministers agreed that health is an important and critical component of economic and trade development and cooperation in the Asia-Pacific region. Health also serves as one of key pillars of APEC’s 2013 second priority: Sustainable growth with equity.

”The output we aim for in this High-Level Meeting is a set of recommendations to help us in our respective efforts to achieve sustainable healthcare systems throughout APEC member economies,” H.E. Nafsiah Mboi, Indonesian Minister of Health, said in her opening remarks.

“This is a “win-win” situation for us all – it will improve the quality of life and productivity of our people while at the same time contributing to the growth of our economies and lowering individual and health costs,” added Minister Mboi.

The statement recommends APEC Ministers and Leaders focus on the following areas:

• Advocate a Whole-of-Government and Whole-of-Society approach.


• Request Senior Officials to form a consultative mechanism of relevant APEC groups and stakeholders to prepare for a high-level discussion between the health and finance community to ensure sustainability of the health financing system.


• Call for a study on health care budget setting, allocation processes, and financing mechanisms to ensure equity of health access.


• Support programs for advanced training in areas including Global Medical Product Quality and Supply Chain Integrity to ensure secure access to safe medical products.


• Welcome the Medan Principles for Public-Private Partnerships in Infection Control and the APEC Policy Tool kit for Building the Capacity to Address Healthcare-Associated Infections.


• Acknowledge the need to address the significant burdens of mental illness; life course concerns, including the changing demands on health systems as the population ages.


• Welcome and endorse initiatives to build capacity in regulatory sciences.


• Recognizing that Traditional and Complementary Alternative Medicine has the potential to strengthen primary health care.


• Welcome work to ensure that economies’ health workforces are sufficient in size and adequately trained.


• Encourage the inclusion of universal health coverage in the post-2015 development agenda.


• Share best practices on health promotion and preventative care, nutrition and education.


• Strengthening of Primary Health Care involving all stakeholders including health and non-health sectors.

To download the statement click here.

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