HCM City (VNA) – Delegates attending the 7th High-Level Meeting on Health andthe Economy which took place in Ho Chi Minh City on August 23-24 held that theevent is important to member economies of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation(APEC) forum.

James Smith-Plenderleith, RegionalDirector for Communication andPublic Affairs of JanssenAsia Pacific, told Vietnam News Agency reporters that the meeting provided anopportunity to discuss progress in implementing APEC’s Healthy Asia Pacific2020 programme,which calls upon regional economies to develop sustainable and high performinghealth systems by adopting or adapting “health in all policies” to enhancepeople’s health and wellbeing.

“We approve a number of programmes in support of aHealthy Asia Pacific 2020 and today I had an opportunity to share ourexperience in developing public private partnerships in the areas of HIV, Ebola, tuberculosis andmental health,” he said.

The 7th APEC High Level Meeting on Health and the Economy was an important summit, bringingtogether health and finance experts, as well as organisations in the public andprivate sectors,he said.

“Over the last two days, we heard manyexamples of how economies are developing innovative ways to finance andstrengthen health systems, particularly in regards to community healthcare.Mental healthcare is a great example of this and where terrific progress hasbeen made in launching an APEC Digital Hub on Mental Health, addressingillnesses that affect an average 20 percent of the working-age population, as well as productivity, theeconomy and both personal and public finances,” he noted.

James Smith-Plenderleith said Janssen,part of the Johnson & Johnson Family of Companies, is proud to support theAPEC Digital Hub on Mental Health and the broader ambitions of the APEC HealthyAsia Pacific 2020 programme.

“The Vietnam organising board should be very proudof their role in supporting such an important dialogue, which has furtherstrengthened regional efforts to advance the health and economic prosperity of economies across the region,” hestressed.

Lokky Wai, WHO Chief Representative in Vietnam,said it is very timely tohave this meeting because many of the APEC economies are in the middle incomestatus and economic growth needs healthy people.

Leonita P. Gorgolon, a delegate from thePhilippines, said the meeting creates avenue where APEC economies shared experience inusing medical resources effectively.

He highlighted Vietnam’sall-people health insurance model and Japan’s mobilisation of social resourcesfor the sector.

Professor Ian Wronski, an Australianexpert, said he was impressedby Vietnam’s efforts in the fight against tuberculosis, stressing that totackle new diseases, it needs a contingent of health experts who can well forecastthe disease development and put forth effectivepreventive measures before the disease causes financial impacts on each economyand family. –VNA