First Meeting of the GMS Working Group on Health Cooperation (WGHC-1)

13-14 December 2017 | Luang Prabang, Lao PDR

Background

1. At the Extraordinary Meeting of the Working Group on Human Resource Development (WGHRD-Ex), GMS countries agreed to restructure the WGHRD and establish the Working Group on Health Cooperation (WGHC).¹ The decision was based on the findings of the review of the Human Resource Development Strategic Framework and Action Plan, 2013-2017 and the recommendations of the Study on Strengthening the Greater Mekong Subregion Program’s Institutional Framework.² At the 22nd GMS Ministerial Conference (September 2017, Ha Noi, Viet Nam), the GMS Ministers welcomed the findings of the review and supported the creation of a new Working Group on Health Cooperation. The Ministers also acknowledged the ongoing development of a GMS Health Cooperation Strategy to guide cooperation in this important area.
2. ADB is preparing a new knowledge and support technical assistance project on Strengthening Regional Health Cooperation in the GMS³ to respond to the growing demands of GMS countries for stronger regional health collaboration. It will be the successor project of the expiring technical assistance support to the WGHRD.⁴ The new technical assistance (TA) project recognizes that while all GMS countries aim for Sustainable Development Goals for health, the subregion still experiences high incidence of communicable diseases and drug resistance. GMS countries also suffer from inefficient health systems due to lack of synergies, economies of scale and scope and currently find few common solutions to common health problems. The TA seeks to address collective action problems of GMS regional health investments and limited resources for health that tends to prioritize national investments and which may not include regional components.
3. The TA will support the work of the GMS WGHC. WGHC is envisioned to serve as a governance platform for knowledge–sharing, information exchange, and policy advocacy. WGHC will also serve as a mechanism for resource coordination and mobilization, and for regional health investment development. The TA will strengthen subregional health collaboration through the development and implementation of a country- endorsed GMS Health Cooperation Strategy. The strategy will include time-bound action plans to improve service delivery, build stronger health systems, and increase health care access for vulnerable groups. This will be complemented with a monitoring and evaluation section and an investment pipeline. Further, the TA seeks to promote knowledge and capacity development through knowledge partnerships and information exchange activities. At the WGHRD-Ex, GMS countries agreed that the next meeting of the WGHRD would be the 1st Meeting of the GMS Working Group on Health Cooperation (WGHC-1).
4. At the WGHC-1, health officials from GMS countries will come together to design the framework for GMS regional health cooperation. The objectives are to: i) agree on the WGHC composition, terms of reference, functions, roles, responsibilities, operational and monitoring mechanisms; ii) review and validate the draft framework for the GMS Health Cooperation Strategy 2018-2022; iii) conduct preliminary discussions on GMS Health Cooperation activities; and (iv) agree on the next steps for the GMS WGHC and endorsement of the GMS Health Cooperation Strategy.

¹ WGHRD-Ex agreed to create a new working group on health cooperation to cover the range of health issues in the GMS. ADB would continue its support to national level projects in education. Development partners with comparative advantage, like IOM and ILO, would take the lead in labor and migration. Social development would be mainstreamed into projects. ²The Study on Strengthening the Greater Mekong Subregion Program’s Institutional Framework presented at the 21st GMS Ministerial Conference in 2016, https://www.adb.org/documents/strengthening-gms-program-institutional-fr... ³ TA (51151-001)-REG: Strengthening Regional Health Cooperation in the Greater Mekong Subregion. ⁴ RETA 8549: Implementing the GMS HRD SFAP (Phase 2). https://www.adb.org/sites/default/files/project-document/79600/46071-001...

Day 1

Day 2

Group Photo