Honourable Chair, Gombojav Zandanshatar
Honourable Dongkun Shin, representing the President of the Forum
WHO Regional Director for South-East Asia, Dr Poonam Khetrapal Singh
Esteemed parliamentarians, distinguished guests, respected colleagues,
Ogloonii mend (good morning). On behalf of the Secretariat, it is my great honour to welcome you to the seventh meeting of the Asia-Pacific Parliamentarian Forum on Global Health.
I am delighted that this Forum has once again brought together such esteemed representatives and many friends from across our vast and diverse region.
I would like to extend my sincere thanks and appreciation to our gracious hosts, the State Great Hural of Mongolia. Mongolia was set to host the Sixth Forum in 2020, then the pandemic struck. I want to express my gratitude to Mongolia for their flexibility and patience in deferring until this year.
Indeed, it is fitting that we meet in Mongolia, a country that has placed primary health care so high on its agenda for health and sustainable development.
Forty-five years ago, the global health community met far to the west of here in Almaty, Kazakhstan. They agreed on a bold vision for primary health care as key to achieving health for all.
Much has changed since 1978. Yet, those fundamental principles – which were reaffirmed by the global health community in Astana in 2018 – resonate just as strongly today as they did then.
That health systems should protect and promote well-being at the individual and population levels, not only treat ill health. That individuals, families and communities should be empowered to take charge of their own health and well-being. That promoting health relies on the efforts of all of government and society to address the underlying determinants.
Yet, even as we embrace these ideals, today we still have health for SOME rather than health for ALL.
The region has made impressive gains in life expectancy, reducing maternal and child deaths, and improving immunization through primary health care. But this progress has not been occurred equitably across countries and populations.
Today, we also face existing and emerging challenges – that include an uncertain economic outlook, rapidly ageing populations, increasing rates of noncommunicable diseases, the health impacts of environmental degradation and climate change. And, as shown by the COVID-19 pandemic, we must remain ever-vigilant against ever-present health security threats.
Currently, many health systems do not have the capacity to meet the present or future health needs of their populations.
Inequities in access to health services persist due to cost, location or other social and cultural factors. At the same time, many people are pushed into poverty from excessive health-care costs.
To build a fairer, healthier region, we need a paradigm shift in how primary health-care systems are designed, funded, managed and delivered. Investment in primary health care is an investment in people and economies, and vital to the future financial sustainability of health systems.
Last year, Member States of the Western Pacific Region endorsed a new regional framework on the future of primary health care. The framework recognizes the unique contexts of this diverse Region, and offers different pathways to reform.
As parliamentarians, your leadership is pivotal. You can play a crucial role in unlocking the entry points and navigating the pathway to primary health-care reform in your country by leading and advocating for primary health care, enacting supportive laws, advocating for increased and realigned public funding, advocating for a renewed focus on the determinants of health in other sectors, and more.
Over the next three days, we have the precious opportunity to learn from one another’s experiences and insights, including reforms in primary health care underway in Mongolia.
We know the powerful impact of peer-to-peer exchanges of experience and opinion. Let us seize this opportunity and revive the spirit of solidarity from Almaty and Astana. Together, we can build primary health care that is fit for our region’s future.
Thank you.