Seoul to enhance Korea-ASEAN ties in digital health
The Korean government is pushing to strengthen digital health cooperation with the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN).
The Ministry of Health and Welfare said Monday that Minister Cho Kyoo-hong attended the second ASEAN-ROK (Republic of Korea) Health Ministers' Meeting and the 10th ASEAN+3 (Korea, Japan, and China) Health Ministers' Meeting held in Vientiane, Laos, last Friday to discuss ways to strengthen health security and promote public health in the region through digital health.
ASEAN hosts the Health Ministers' Meeting every two years, which brings together non-regional dialogue partners, including Korea, Japan, and China, to discuss cooperation plans and issues in the region’s health sector.
ASEAN comprises 10 countries: Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, and Vietnam.
This year marks the first year Korea has co-chaired the ASEAN-Korea and ASEAN+3 Health Ministers' Meetings since the establishment of the ASEAN+3 in 2004 and the ASEAN-Korea Health Ministers' Meeting in 2022.
The meeting, which had the theme "Transforming ASEAN Health Development Resilience in a New Context," discussed countries' policy experiences and ways to cooperate in the region.
During the ASEAN-ROK Health Ministers' Meeting, Cho emphasized the importance of utilizing digital technologies in the rapidly changing healthcare environment, including global aging trends and emerging public health crises.
He also proposed a vision for future cooperation that utilizes Korea's capabilities in this field. Based on this vision, the Health and Welfare Ministry will establish the ASEAN Health Sector Digital Transformation Strategy to help ASEAN member states improve their healthcare systems.
At the ASEAN+3 Health Ministers' Meeting, Cho stressed that Korea will continue its efforts to strengthen health security by, for instance, operating the WHO Global Human Resources Training Hub, strengthening infectious disease capacity, and cooperating in the digital health sector to prepare for cross-border health emergencies following the pandemic.
He also proposed expanding cooperation into new health areas, including mental health promotion and cooperation in managing antibiotic resistance.
Representatives from ASEAN member states, including Laotian Health Minister Bounphoung Phoumalaysis and Indonesian Health Minister Budi Gunadi Sadiqin, expressed their support for Korea's vision, and the relevant contents were adopted as a joint declaration.
"As we celebrate the 35th anniversary of the ASEAN-ROK Dialogue this year, Korea will take the lead in implementing bilateral cooperation in the health sector to contribute to improving health and quality of healthcare for all in the region," Minister Cho said.
However, the government's external move prompted the domestic medical community to call for more focus on the situation in Korea, where the emergency healthcare system has been in operation for months.
"While overseas cooperation is a necessary policy, the government must focus more on domestic issues, as the government's decision to increase the number of medical students has resulted in an emergency medical care system in operation for months," a medical official told Korea Biomedical Review over the phone on Monday.