APEC 2007
About the APEC Health Ministers Meetings
The focus of the APEC 2007 Health Ministers Meeting will be on helping economies to ensure continued functioning in the face of pandemics and other health threats.
About APEC Health Ministers Meeting
With the outbreak of Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) in 2002, APEC began to examine issues relevant to the economic consequences of pandemic outbreaks within the Asia-Pacific region.At the 2002 APEC meeting held in Los Cabos, Mexico, Leaders acknowledged that investing in health would benefit economic growth and the first APEC Health Ministers Meeting (HMM) was subsequently held in Bangkok, Thailand, on 28 June 2003.
APEC 2007 hosted the second Health Ministers Meeting. In addition, an APEC Ministerial Meeting on Avian and Influenza Pandemics was held in Da Nang, Viet Nam, on 4 to 6 May 2006 . This meeting was attended by agricultural and health ministers.
Theme
The theme for the APEC 2007 Health Ministers Meeting was:- Building on our investment: A sustainable and multi-sectoral approach to pandemic preparedness and emerging health threats.
Since its inception four years ago, the APEC Health Ministers Meeting has been a valuable forum where Ministers have:
- consulted and worked together on common actions to contain the spread of Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS),
- planned to increase defences against other infectious disease outbreaks and
- developed projects to prepare the region against possible future outbreaks of H5N1 avian influenza.
Preparations against avian and pandemic influenza have highlighted the importance of engaging all relevant sectors of the economy. Pandemic preparedness infrastructure is a real investment in the future that can extend to cover future emerging health threats to economic wellbeing. The APEC 2007 Health Ministers Meeting is an opportunity for economies to share information on accomplishments to date and to identify areas where more effort may be needed.
The focus of the APEC 2007 HMM will be on helping economies to ensure continued functioning in the face of pandemics and other health threats. The Health Ministers Meeting will reflect the themes of the APEC Action Plan on the Response to Avian and Influenza Pandemics , including regional and international cooperation and partnerships with the private sector.
