On February 10, 2007 in Kuala Lumpur, the delegates of ASEAN Regional Primary Care Organizations from all ASEAN countries signed the Declaration of the Family Physicians as: “PRIMARY HEALTH CARE, THE DRIVING FORCE FOR A HEALTHY ASEAN 2020.”
WE, the representatives of general practitioners/family physicians of the 10 ASEAN Member Countries, representing Brunei Darussalam, the Kingdom of Cambodia, the Republic of Indonesia, the Lao People’s Democratic Republic, the Federation of Malaysia, the Union of Myanmar, the Republic of the Philippines, the Republic of Singapore, the Kingdom of Thailand, the Socialist Republic of Viet Nam;
REAFFIRMING the vision of ASEAN as a concert of Southeast Asian nations, outward looking, living in peace, stability and prosperity, bonded together in partnership in dynamic development and in a community of caring societies, as enunciated by the 2nd ASEAN Informal Summit held in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia in December 1997;
RECALLING our vision of “Healthy ASEAN 2020” adopted at the 5th ASEAN Health Ministers Meeting held in April 2000 in Yogyakarta, Indonesia, which envisioned by 2020 “that health shall be at the centre of development and ASEAN cooperation in health shall be strengthened to ensure that our people are healthy in mind, body, spirit, social well-being and living in harmony in safe environment”;
COMMITTING to ensure that the ASEAN will continue to be a driving force for regional action in promoting healthy lifestyles as agreed by the 6th ASEAN Health Ministers Meeting held on 15 March 2002 in Vientiane, Lao PDR;
ENDEAVOURING to put into operation the call made by our Leaders at their 9th Summit held in Bali, Indonesia in October 2003 to further strengthen cooperation among the health and other relevant agencies to promote and facilitate the exchange and sharing of information as well as strengthen early warning systems to deal with and prevent the spread of SARS and other diseases;
RESPONDING also to the renewed commitment expressed by the 9th ASEAN Summit that ASEAN shall further intensify cooperation in the area of public health, including the prevention and control of diseases such as HIV/AIDS and SARS, and the maintenance of health and well-being, and support joint regional actions to increase access to affordable medicines;
NOTTING that the ASEAN Economic Community, envisioned by the ASEAN Leaders at their 9th ASEAN Summit held in October 2003 in Bali, Indonesia, is the end goal of economic integration where there is a fee flow of goods, services, investment and free flow of capital, equitable development and reduced poverty and socio-economic disparities by the year 2020;
AWARE that the vision of a stable and secure ASEAN Community can be realized only when our peoples enjoy optimum health, are protected from the spread of diseases and lifestyle related diseases, and are ensured of timely and adequate protection against communicable diseases, including those of zoonotic nature such as avian influenza, and allows healthy migration and movement of it peoples within the region;
RECOGNISING that Primary Health Care is the key to effective, efficient and equitable health service system which results in accessible, low cost and better health outcomes of health care.
UNDERSTANDING that the Indonesian College’s initiative by hosting a Inaugural ASEAN Workshop in April 2006, which declared a Consensus that ASEAN countries must cooperate to face the challenges which are taking place around the region.
THIS CONFERENCE THEREFORE RESOLVES THIS DECLARATION THAT:
General Practitioners / Family Physicians in the ASEAN Region :
- To collaborate in sharing knowledge, skills, educational and research resources.
- To work with the ASEAN Secretariat and the Medical Association of South East Asian Nations and other organizations as it may deem fir.
- To work with Ministry of Health in their own countries.
- To work with medical colleges, universities and academies of professional bodies to establish postgraduate educational programs for primary care doctors and to advocate the inclusion of general practice / family medicine in undergraduate medical programs.
- To adopt and establish the name of “ASEAN REGIONAL PRIMARY CARE CONFERENCE”, with acronym “ARPaC CONFERENCE”
- To set up a Steering Committee of members from each nation and to elect a Chairman, the first being from Indonesia and to rotate the chair every two years
- To work towards common standards for quality healthcare, education, training, accreditation and certification to set competencies for general practitioners / family physicians.
- To uphold the level of professionalism to meet public expectations.
As a sign of mutual agreement of this declaration, we the undersigned, affix our signatures as a provisional agreement as follows:
- Brunei Darussalam
- The Kingdom of Cambodia
- The Republic of Indonesia
- The Lao People’s Democratic Republic
- The Federation of Malaysia
- The Union of Myanmar
- The Republic of the Philippines
- The Republic of Singapore
- The Kingdom of Thailand
- The Socialist Republic of Viet Nam
It is therefore in the interest of all general practitioners to support this movement. The Malaysian Medical Association through the auspices of it’s membership of MASEAN would request this Primary Care movement to come under its wing. The need for MASEAN to lobby the Minesterial Meeting of ASEAN to seek for support to sponsor and promote primary healthcare in the region and to provide capacity to Governments for its development in their own countries. These new developments are needed to promote general practice in the region.