Strengthening health resilience in South East Asia through advancing vaccination coverage

BANGKOK - April 27, 2016 - PRLog -- In light of the upcoming World Immunization Week, the Aid & International Development Forum (AIDF) Asia Summit 2016 focuses on strengthening health resilience in South East Asia through innovation and collaboration to support disease prevention programmes and vaccination coverage.

According to World Health Organization, vaccine-preventable diseases are responsible for nearly 2.5 million deaths every year globally. Immunization could prevent 1.7 million deaths among children under 5 years of age.  Yet an estimated 130 million people in the South-East Asia region lack access to essential health services.

Leading health and vaccination experts from civil society, UN agencies, governments, investors, research institutes and the private sector will gather at the AIDF Asia Summit on 21-22 June 2016 at the United Nations Conference Centre in Bangkok to provide an update on health resilience and emergency response, including Health Programmes for Disease Prevention and Control in South East Asia.

Integrating immunization with other health services, such as postnatal care for mothers and babies and strengthening health systems so that vaccines continue to be given even in times of crisis are amongst key priorities for WHO, UNICEF, UNFPA, World Bank and UNAIDS. They also pledged to address underlying factors like nutrition, hygiene and sanitation, and to empower women through a cross-sector collaboration approach.

Dr Anurak Amornpetchsathaporn, Director of Bureau of Public Health Emergency Response, Office of the Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Public Health, Thailand, has confirmed his participation as a keynote speaker at the AIDF Asia Summit. Improving community health through technologies and public-private partnerships as well as addressing the key stages for collaborative health innovation will be explored in a discussion with Sebastien Latouille, Delegate for Asia-Pacific, Telecoms Sans Frontieres, Martina Aureli, Business Development & Sales Executive, NRS International.

They join other confirmed speakers on health issues including:

• Dr Nyunt Naing Thein, Chief of Party, Thailand, International Rescue Committee
• Anna Hrybyk, Program Manager, Catholic Relief Services
• Dr Kulwant Singh, Chief Technical Advisor, UN-HABITAT

Discover latest trends and innovations in mHealth and their practical implications for humanitarian aid and development programmes with representatives of UNESCAP, USAID, Save the Children, UNOPS, IRFC, FHI 360, IRC, UNESCO, IOM, WFP, Habitat for Humanity International, World Vision, ADPC, GIZ.

The AIDF Asia Summit aims to foster technological innovation and tighter collaboration between various levels of government, aid agencies, UN, investors and private sector in order to address inadequate access to health and immunization services in hard-to-reach rural areas, increase awareness amongst vulnerable populations and introduce new vaccine to improve routine immunization services in the region.

AIDF would like to thank healthcare partners, including B Medical Systems, Johnson & Johnson, Sanofi Pasteur, SATMED and DanofficeIT. To find out more about our partners, or how you can get involved, please visit http://asia.aidforum.org

To learn more about health related issues in South East Asia and take action to make a difference, email Alina O'Keeffe at aokeeffe@aidforum.org with a request for participation.

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