CEBU, Philippines- The Department of Health has called on member economies of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation to promote good health to sustain economic and social development.
“Good health allows citizens to reach their full productive potential and the innovations that drive good health provide an astounding economic return,” Health Secretary Janette Garin said in a statement released to media yesterday.
DOH Undersecretary Kenneth Go told the media on Sunday the Apec recognizes the changing landscape of global health challenges resulting from economic and health trends across the region.
The DOH is hosting the 5th high-level meeting on health and economy in Cebu City on August 30 to 31.
Go said the Health Working Group (HWG) and the Life Sciences Innovation Forum (LSIF) have developed the road map for the “Healthy Asia Pacific 2020 Initiative.”
Go cited the five critical success factors in the roadmap namely: the government’s commitment to health; creating platforms for policy dialogue and stakeholder engagement; promoting prevention, control and awareness; establishing innovation; and enhancing inter-sectoral and cross-border collaboration.
The drafting of the roadmap for the Free Trade Area of the Asia Pacific was based on four priority areas — enhancing regional integration; mainstreaming small and medium enterprises in global and regional markets; investing in human capital development; and building sustainable and resilient economies.
One of the priority actions identified by HWG and LSIF is the fiscal and economic impact of ill health, DOH said, noting that “as more people are forced to retire early because of ill health, the economy will become less productive.”
“Health should be regarded as an investment,” Garin told the health ministers from other member economies.
“Investing in health is critical in reducing poverty and promoting inclusive growth,” Garin further said.
Garin explained the Apec provides a platform for “promoting innovation in the health sector and supporting the broader trade and investment agenda.”
Priorities
The 21 economies, Go said, are forging synergies to combat various diseases, which affect the development of an economy.
He said the diseases to be prioritized for aid and other interventions are non-communicable diseases, mental health, infectious diseases, human immunodeficiency virus and other morbidity and mortality related cases.
Go admitted that mental health has been a “neglected” concern in the community. He said there are institutions catering on mental health but “many institutions are not capable of handling it and not ready to accommodate mental problems.”
He said the stigma, a serious social issue, on person with health problems is also suppressing the person to seek medical attention.
“We (21 economies) are addressing these pressing and neglected issues,” he assured.
Peter Sheehan, Research director at Victoria University’s Victoria Institute of Strategic Economic Studies, cited a Philippine study indicating that five to six percent of gross domestic product losses due to the prevalence of non communicable diseases and mental health.
Go underscored the importance of health in enhancing and developing the workforce and the economy itself. He said the 21 economies are helping hand in hand to find and set a balance in economy and health.
“If we all aspire for a sustainable economy we should have first healthy economy, which is often neglected in discussions,” he said.
Garin also said women’s empowerment and the promotion of gender equality are keys to achieving sustainable economic development in the Asia-Pacific region.
Aside from that, she said increasing the number of female labor force may help the economies in addressing the shrinking labor pools due to “variable birth rates and rapidly aging populations.”
She stressed the need to strengthen health policies to generate best practices across the region.
Go also said women must have information and access to good and quality health through safe workplace; access on family planning, sexual and reproductive health services; deter gender-based violence and harassment in workplace.
Sheehan agreed that health is very vital and at the same time “critical” in wealth and economic development of a country.
“Health is critically is important to society. Shouldn’t be treated as one more of many things government is trying to pay attention to,” he said.
Sheehan pointed out the significance of crafting or introducing new innovations to boost the Universal Health Care.
“The emphasis in innovation-processes and ideas-and how we can introduce better innovation, product, assistance and better methods,” he said.
Part of the innovation, Go said, is securing the supply chain of pharmaceutical drugs through intensifying the trainings of different enforcement agencies like Bureau of Customs.
Another innovations are tracking system to trace import and export medicines; harmonizing standard of blood supply; biomedical innovation center to be spearheaded by academe and government agencies and some industries for the commercialization health programs and benefits for people to have access; development of global hub to share best practices to doctors in far flung areas.
“Adaptation of global standards so there is efficiency of tracking products of good source, how it handles and how it enters the borders,” Go said. (FREEMAN)