Mechanisms 15th Tripartite Health Ministers’ Meeting (THMM) 2022-12-16
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On December 16, 2022, Trilateral Cooperation Secretariat (TCS) Secretary-General Amb. OU Boqian attended the 15th Tripartite Health Ministers’ Meeting and delivered opening remarks online. The Meeting was chaired by Minister CHO Kyoo Hong of the Ministry of Health and Welfare of the ROK. Vice Minister ZENG Yixin on behalf of Minister MA Xiaowei of the National Health Commission of China, Minister KATO Katsunobu of Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare of Japan, and Dr. Zsuzsanna JAKAB, Deputy Director-General of World Health Organization (WHO) participated in the Meeting. 

Secretary-General OU spoke highly of the three governments’ continued efforts to minimize the impact of the pandemic on the health and safety of the people. While three countries are gradually overcoming the crisis through regular communication and pragmatic cooperation, she underlined that demographic change intensified by social and economic impact of the pandemic remains to be a common challenge. As growing aged population and declining fertility rate calls for creative and innovative thinking and measures, Secretary-General OU introduced that the TCS organized a relevant session at Jeju Forum 2022 to make contributions to strengthening information and experience sharing in this area. 

Considering the geographical proximity and frequent exchanges among the people, the three ministers stressed the importance of cooperation in responding to the regional public health crisis and revitalization of both online and offline cooperation. In addition, the ministers also exchanged their national policy measures for Universal Health Coverage (UHC) and efforts to increase healthcare access through digital health. As one of the urgent tasks facing the three countries in common, each country’s experiences and solutions to an aging society were also shared. 

The meeting concluded with the adoption of a Joint Statement containing the three countries’ endeavors to strengthen cooperation on the agenda discussed at the meeting, such as Pandemic Prevention Preparedness and Response (PPR), Universal Health Coverage (UHC), and Healthy Aging. 

The 16th Meeting will be held in China, in 2023. 

▲TCS Secretary-General Made Opening Remarks 

▲Group Photo