Summary
The 22nd ASEAN & Japan High-Level Officials Meeting on Caring Societies
The 22nd ASEAN & Japan High-Level Officials Meeting on Caring Societies was held from 25th to 27th November 2024 in Kanagawa Prefecture. Under this year’s theme “A Virtuous Cycle of Achieving UHC (universal health coverage) and “Promoting a Healthy Society,” lively discussions were conducted among high-level officials from Japan, ASEAN member states and other participants.
A summary of the meeting is as follows.
＜Date and Venue＞
Date: 25th – 27th November 2024
Venue: Life Science & Environment Research Center (LiSE) (Kawasaki City, Kanagawa Prefecture)
＜Participants＞
- Japan
- ASEAN Member States: high-level officials from social welfare, health, and labour sectors (Republic of Indonesia, Kingdom of Cambodia, Kingdom of Thailand, Republic of the Philippines, Brunei Darussalam, Socialist Republic of Viet Nam, Malaysia, Republic of the Union of Myanmar, Lao People’s Democratic Republic)
- Observer countries: officials from the Democratic Republic of Timor-Leste and the Republic of Korea
- Partners:
ASEAN Secretariat
World Health Organization (WHO) Regional Office for the Western Pacific
International Labour Organization (ILO) Office in Japan
Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA)
Kanagawa Prefecture
Kawasaki City
- Keynote speakers and experts
- General audiences
＜Theme＞
A Virtuous Cycle of Achieving UHC (universal health coverage) and “Promoting a Healthy Society”
＜Organizer＞
Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare (MHLW), the Government of Japan
＜Program＞ *The titles of the speeches listed here are the original titles used by the speakers.
Day 1: Monday, 25th November 2024
● Opening remarks
- Dr NIKI Hirobumi, State Minister of Health, Labour and Welfare
- Mr. San Lwin, Deputy Secretary-General for ASEAN Socio-Cultural Community, ASEAN Secretariat (video message)
- Mr. KUROIWA Yuji, the Governor of Kanagawa Prefecture
● Keynote speech 1
“UHC AS A KEY TO PROMOTING HEALTY SOCIETIES: A call for robust health and finance dialogue and collaboration（PDF:1,041KB）”
- Mr. YONEYAMA Yasuaki, Managing Executive Officer of the Japan Bank for International Cooperation (JBIC)
● Speeches by partners
“Social welfare, health, and labour sectors in ASEAN: Regional Initiatives（PDF:2,544KB）”
- Ms. Jennifer Frances dela Rosa, Senior Officer of the health team., the Human Development Directorate, ASEAN Social and Cultural Community (ASCC) Department, ASEAN Secretariat
“Promoting a healthy society（PDF:1,706KB）”
- Dr Joana Madureira Lima, Coordinator of Health Enabling Society, Division of Healthy Environments and Populations, World Health Organization Regional Office for the Western Pacific
“Ageing in ASEAN Countries and Social Security System（PDF:981KB）”
- Mr. TAKASAKI Shinichi, Director, ILO Office for Japan
“Strengthening Partnerships to Enhance Universal Healthcare (UHC)（PDF:1,083KB）”
- Mr. NAKAMURA Shintaro, Senior Adviser on Social Security, JICA
● Keynote Speech 2
“Improving equity-based health service access to accelerate achievement of Universal Health Coverage（PDF:1,575KB）”
- Dr SONE Tomofumi, President, National Institute of Public Health, Japan
● Keynote Speech 3
“From Welfare to Employment（PDF:1,487KB）”
- Mr. FUJIEDA Shigeru, Director of the Kanagawa Labour Bureau.
● Panel Session 1: Sharing the Experience Related to the Achievement and Promotion of UHC as well as Preparations and Measures based on the Challenges
- Moderator: Mr. NAKAMURA Shintaro, Senior Adviser on Social Security, JICA
- Presentations:
“Challenges against Japanese UHC system（PDF:513KB）”
Mr. ONO Taichi, Professor of the National Graduate Institute for Policy Studies
- Lao People’s Democratic Republic（PDF:1,499KB）
- Malaysia（PDF:5,889KB）
- Democratic Republic of Timor-Leste（PDF:1,244KB）
- Republic of Korea（PDF:4,888KB）
● Panel Session 2:Promoting the Development of Human Resources Related to UHC
- Moderator：Dr IGARASHI Kumiko, Research Managing Director, National Institute of Public Health, Japan
- Presentations:
“The public health system and human resource development in public health in Japan（PDF:856KB）”
Dr OSAWA Eri, Chef Senior Researcher, National Institute of Public Health, Japan
- Brunei Darussalam（PDF:86KB）
- Republic of Indonesia（PDF:1,169KB）
- Republic of the Union of Myanmar（PDF:1,141KB）
- Socialist Republic of Viet Nam（PDF:319KB）
● Panel Session 3: Promoting Collaborative Efforts in the Fields of Health, Welfare, and Labour to Create a Healthy Society to Sustain UHC
- Moderator：Mr. TAKAHASHI Junichi, Director of the Office of Global Health Cooperation, MHLW
- Presentations:
“Health Care Support for Welfare Recipients（PDF:732KB）”
Mr. OGAWA Yoshiyuki, Director of the Office of Public Assistance Services, Public Assistance Division, Social Welfare and War Victims’ Relief Bureau, Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare, Japan
“Kawasaki City’s Health and Welfare Initiatives: Circulating the Power of Citizens and Businesses（PDF:1,884KB）”
Dr ARAKIDA Mikako, Vice President of Kawasaki City College of Nursing
- Kingdom of Cambodia（PDF:1,278KB）
- Republic of the Philippines（PDF:1,202KB）
- Kingdom of Thailand（PDF:2,660KB）
Day 2: Tuesday, 26th November 2024
- Site visit
Kawasaki City Welfare Complex FukuFuku
Social Welfare Corporation GREEN
Social Welfare Corporation LE PLI
KING SKYFRONT (Johnson & Johnson, Shimadzu Tokyo Innovation Plaza, Innovation Center of NanoMedicine, and National Institute of Health Sciences)
Day 3: Wednesday, 27th November 2024
● Recommendation（PDF:199KB）
● Closing
- Mr. TAKAHASHI Junichi, Director of the Office of Global Health Cooperation, Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare, Japan
【Appendix】
The ASEAN and Japan High Level Officials Meeting on Caring Societies has been organized by the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare (MHLW) of Japan since 2003. The purpose of the meeting is to enhance human resource development in the health, social welfare and labour areas, and to strengthen the ASEAN-Japan cooperative relationship. Since 2011, officials in charge of labour policies have also participated in addition to health and social welfare officials, with a view to promoting cooperation in these three related fields.
This meeting has been recognized as a vital platform to support the ASEAN Plus Three (Japan, the People’s Republic of China, and the Republic of Korea) Health Ministers’ Meetings, the ASEAN Plus Three Ministerial Meetings on Social Welfare and Development as well as the ASEAN Plus Three Labour Ministers’ Meetings. Japan has reported the outcomes of the high-level officials meetings to these ASEAN Plus Three Ministers’ Meetings.
Themes of the past ASEAN and Japan High Level Officials Meeting on Caring Societies
| The 1st Meeting | November 2003 | Human Resource Development for Social Welfare and Health Services |
| The 2nd Meeting | August 2004 | Development of Human Resources and Implications of Aging Societies |
| The 3rd Meeting | August 2005 | Health and Welfare Services for Children and People with Disabilities |
| The 4th Meeting | August 2006 | Support to Vulnerable People (Children and Women) |
| The 5th Meeting | August 2007 | Collaboration of Social Welfare and Health Services, and Development of Human Resources and Community - Community Services for the Elderly - |
| The 6th Meeting | September 2008 | Healthy Next Generation: - Strengthening Joint Collaboration between Health and Social Welfare - |
| The 7th Meeting | August 2009 | Towards an Inclusive Society - Strengthening the collaboration between social welfare, health and medical systems for Children with Disabilities - |
| The 8th Meeting | August 2010 | Poverty alleviation with a focus on vulnerable people - through strengthening collaboration between the social welfare and health services - |
| The 9th Meeting | October 2011 | Human resource development in the sectors of welfare and health - with a focus on capacity building of service providers and employability promotion of vulnerable people - |
| The 10th Meeting | October 2012 | Caring Societies for the Socially Vulnerable Suffering after Natural Disaster |
| The 11th Meeting | December 2013 | Active Aging |
| The 12th Meeting | December 2014 | Resilient Communities for Active Aging |
| The 13th Meeting | October 2015 | People-Centered Disaster Risk Reduction and Restoration |
| The 14th Meeting | November 2016 | Facilitating the participation and improvement for the accessibility for those who need a social support |
| The 15th Meeting | October 2017 | Healthy Development of Children for Future Generations |
| The 16th Meeting | December 2018 | Promoting Inclusive Society Through Empowering Children and Youth and Alleviating Poverty |
| The 17th Meeting | December 2019 | Health and Active Ageing towards an Inclusive Society |
| The 18th Meeting | October 2020 | Promoting inclusive society for the children’s future - Focusing on support for children with developmental disorders including Autism Spectrum Disorders and their families - |
| The 19th Meeting | December 2021 | Approaches to maintaining mental wellbeing in response to COVID-19 |
| The 20th Meeting | March 2023 | Age of the 100-year life – Living True to Yourself – In a Society Supporting Diversity |
| The 21st Meeting | November 2024 | Towards building a society where everyone can live lively as being oneself in communities - focusing on maintaining and strengthening physical and mental capacities to optimize one’s full potential - |