The Greater Mekong Subregion (GMS) is vulnerable to acute public health events that endanger populations within and across countries in the subregion. Health security is a product of country-specific and collective actions. Strong national public health systems with capacity to prevent, detect, and respond to transnational health threats are the cornerstone of health security.
Strengthening mechanisms for multi-sector cooperation under a “One Health Approach” is a further building block, crucial for effective response to zoonotic disease, antimicrobial resistance, and food safety threats. Cross-border and subregional cooperation serves to maximize synergies between the health systems of GMS countries, consolidating health security as a regional public good that carries benefits for people across the subregion.
SINGAPORE (23 October 2018) — Regional cooperation is increasingly necessary to tackle a rising number of cross-border challenges in Asia and the Pacific, including infrastructure gaps, trade connectivity, financial contagion, and climate and disaster-resilience, according to a new report from the Asian Development Bank.
A health worker conducts malaria testing in a remote village in Myanmar. Photo. ADB.
In the Greater Mekong Subregion, unregulated medicines in the supply chain, including substandard or fake medicines, are fueling resistance to artemisinin combination therapies, the most effective treatment for falciparum malaria.
ADB Lao PDR Resident Mission OIC Steven Schipani and Vice Minister of Finance Thipphakone Chanthavongsa signed the loan and grant agreement in a ceremony in Vientiane attended by other government officials. Photo: ADB
VIENTIANE, LAO PEOPLE’S DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC (3 February 2017) — The Asian Development Bank and the Government of Lao People’s Democratic Republic today signed an agreement for a $12 million loan and grant package for a health security project.
The project will enhance responses to emerging infectious diseases and the management of other major public health threats. Photo: ADB.
PHNOM PENH, CAMBODIA (23 November 2016) — The Asian Development Bank has approved a $117 million loan to the Governments of Cambodia, Lao People’s Democratic Republic, Myanmar and Viet Nam to enhance responses to emerging infectious diseases and the management of other major public health threats. The Lao PDR government is also receiving $8 million in grant assistance.
Greater Mekong Subregion Secretariat
Regional Cooperation and Operations Coordination Division,
Southeast Asia Department, Asian Development Bank
Address: 6 ADB Avenue, Mandaluyong City 1550, Metro Manila, Philippines
Telephone: +63 2 8632 4444 Fax: +63 2 8636 2226
