An Updated Assessment of the Economic Impact of COVID-19
This brief presents new projections on the economic impact of COVID-19 and highlights policy implications.
Health Cooperation
Countries in the Greater Mekong Subregion aim for Sustainable Development Goals for health. Through the Working Group on Health Cooperation, GMS countries are taking comprehensive, coordinated and proactive approaches to address regional health issues.
The Greater Mekong Subregion still experiences high incidence of communicable diseases and drug-resistant microorganisms. GMS countries also suffer from inefficient health systems due to lack of synergies, economies of scale, and scope; and there are few common solutions to common health problems.
The Working Group on Health Cooperation seeks to address collective action problems of regional health investments and limited resources for health that tend to prioritize national investments.
Regional health cooperation initiatives in the Greater Mekong Subregion focus on three strategic pillars:
Strategic Pillar 1: Health security as a regional public good tackles the subregion’s vulnerability to acute public health events. Ensuring robust national health systems with capacity to prevent, detect and respond to transnational health threats is the cornerstone of health security.
Strategic Pillar 2: Health impacts of connectivity and mobility responds to health challenges stemming from an increasingly interconnected GMS. Strengthening health systems in border areas where migrant and mobile populations pass and reside is an entry point for programming. Also includes. integrating health impact assessment during project planning and implementation of GMS urban and transport infrastructure projects.
Strategic Pillar 3: Health workforce development builds on the subregion’s existing human resource capacity to address common health challenges. Strong leadership in turn opens opportunities for intraregional capacity building, utilizing the subregions’ depth of health human resource and health programming experience to tackle shared health issues and enhance country efforts to attain Sustainable Development Goal targets.
Related
Focal Persons at the Asian Development Bank
- Rikard Elfving
Head, WGHC Secretariat
Sr. Social Sector Specialist
Human and Social Development Division
South Asia Department - Kyi Thar
Public Health Specialist (Consultant),
Human and Social Development Division
Southeast Asia Department
- Mario Randolph Dacanay
Regional Coordinator/Health Cooperation Specialist (Consultant)
Human and Social Development Division
Southeast Asia Department - Marissa Espiritu
Finance and Logistics Specialist (Consultant),
Human and Social Development Division,
Southeast Asia Department/GMS Secretariat
Send inquiries to GMS Secretariat.
Human Resource Development
After more than 20 years, the Working Group on Human Resource Development was restructured in 2017 to focus on health, given the strategic importance of regional cooperation in this area.
Consequent to the review of the GMS Institutional Framework in 2016 and a separate review of the Strategic Framework and Action Plan for Human Resource Development in the GMS 2013–2017, GMS ministers endorsed the creation of the Working Group on Health Cooperation in 2017.
Human resource development, however, continues to be an important sector in the Greater Mekong Subregion. At an extraordinary meeting of the Working Group on Human Resource Development in Bangkok on 4 July 2017, participants agreed on the following key points:
- Refocus the working group and its approach, given the new strategic direction toward health cooperation.
- Continue to respond to demand for analysis and similar initiatives in higher education at the country level.
- Cooperate with other development partners with expertise on labor and migration.
- Integrate social development across all sectors of the GMS.
- Develop the scope for a new Working Group on Health Cooperation.
Related
- Strategic Framework and Action Plan for Human Resource Development in the Greater Mekong Subregion (2013–2017)
- Strategic Framework and Action Plan for Human Resource Development in the Greater Mekong Subregion (2009-2012)
- Summary of Proceedings
Food Security in Asia and the Pacific amid the COVID-19 Pandemic
This brief outlines the implications of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic for food security in Asia and the Pacific and suggests policy responses.
The Impact of COVID-19 on Tourism Enterprises in the Lao People’s Democratic Republic: An Initial Assessment
This brief estimates the initial impact of coronavirus disease (COVID-19) on tourism enterprises in the Lao People’s Democratic Republic (Lao PDR).
6 Ways to Jumpstart a Green Recovery from COVID-19
News
In the popular imagination, the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic has been a boon for the natural world. With more than a third of the global population under some level of lockdown, we’ve delighted to see skies burst back into blueness and wild animals venturing into urban neighborhoods. It’s been easy to convince ourselves that wildlife and the environment have flourished. The truth, however, isn’t so reassuring. The pandemic has created an increase in poaching, animal trafficking, illegal fishing and other environmental crimes.
Infection Prevention and Control Assessment Findings
Conducted by Ministry of Health, Lao PDR, June–December 2018
Cambodian migrants arriving by train at Anranya Prathet, Thailand. Photo by Joe Lowry via IOM - UN Migration (CC BY-NC-ND 2.0) © IOM 2014
Why Safeguarding Migrants’ Health and Achieving Universal Health Coverage Matters amidst COVID-19
GMS in the News
When it comes to the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreak no one is safe until everyone is safe. This was one of the key points emphasized by Dr.
Medtecs Group, a supplier of personal protective equipment in Cambodia, employs 5,500 people at its Kampong Cham factory. It has provided stable jobs, contributing to the local economy, which is critical as Cambodia braces for the impact of COVID-19. Photo by Medtecs Group via ADB
Medical Supplies from Cambodia Helping ADB Developing Member Countries Fight COVID-19 Outbreak
GMS in the News
In immediate response to global efforts to combat the pandemic, the Health Sector Group of the Asian Development Bank (ADB)’s Sustainable Development and Climate Change (SDCC) Department mobilized funding for Technical Assistance (TA) on Regional Support to Address the Outbreak of Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) in the amount of $48.3 million in early 2020.
Sample infographic materials distributed by the Ministry of Health, Viet Nam from the country's COVID-19-dedicated website.
Viet Nam's Prime Minister Shares Five Lessons Learned from COVID-19, Highlights Importance of Communication in Pandemic
GMS in the News
Viet Nam's Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc delivered a report on how the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) was contained and managed in the country, and solutions to restart the economy, at the opening ceremony of the country’s 14th National Assembly’s 9th working session on 20 May 2020.
A frontline healthworker at the Thailand Bamrasnaradura Infectious Disease Institute, Ministry of Public Health. Photo by UN Women Asia and the Pacific.
Building Pandemic Preparedness in the Greater Mekong Subregion
GMS in the News
Cambodia, the Lao People’s Democratic Republic (PDR), Myanmar and Viet Nam, CLMV countries in the Greater Mekong Subregion (GMS), have experienced a relatively smaller number of reported cases and fatalities of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19). As of 22 June, Cambodia reported 129 confirmed cases, Lao PDR reported 19 confirmed cases, and Viet Nam reported 349 confirmed cases. All three countries recorded 0 deaths from COVID-19. In Myanmar, while there have been 6 deaths, only 286 confirmed cases were reported.
A 24/7 automatic dispensing machine provides free rice for people out of work following the lockdown. This was spearheaded by a Vietnamese entrepreneur in Ho Chi Minh City. Photo by Reuters on Twitter.
Initiative Gathers Mekong Innovations Spurred by the COVID-19 Pandemic
GMS in the News
An initiative by the Mekong Tourism Coordinating Office (MTCO), Destination Mekong, and the Mekong Institute (MI) taps individuals' help in crowdsourcing newly-spotted innovations on how the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) is being managed and/or overcome in the Greater Mekong Subregion (GMS).