Representatives of the six countries of the Greater Mekong Subregion (GMS) met in Luang Prabang, Lao People's Democratic Republic (Lao PDR) on 13-14 December 2017 for the first meeting of the GMS Working Group on Health Cooperation (WGHC-1).

The Asian Development Bank (ADB) organized the meeting in coordination with the Ministry of Health of the Lao PDR. The participants were government officials from GMS member countries (Cambodia, People’s Republic of China, Lao PDR, Myanmar, Thailand, and Viet Nam); representatives of development partners (International Organization for Migration, World Bank, and World Health Organization); civil society organizations; and ADB.

The meeting achieved the following objectives:

• obtain agreement with health officials of the six GMS countries on the composition of the WGHC, terms of reference, functions, roles, responsibilities, and operational and monitoring mechanisms;
• review and validate the draft framework for the GMS Health Cooperation Strategy;
• conduct preliminary discussions on health cooperation activities; and
• obtain the concurrence of health officials on the next steps for the WGHC and the endorsement of the GMS Health Cooperation Strategy.