The adoption of the ASEAN Leaders’ Declaration on Strengthening Regional Biosafety and Biosecurity at the 44th/45th ASEAN Summits marks a critical milestone in enhancing the region’s readiness and response capabilities against biological threats and pandemics. This Declaration underscores the importance of robust advocacy, multi-sectoral collaboration, and the integration of biosafety and biosecurity within ASEAN’s health sector and beyond.
This dialogue will provide a platform to support the operationalisation of the Declaration, advancing health security efforts by fostering collaboration across diverse sectors and strengthening the health-security interface. It builds on over a decade of impactful partnership between ASEAN Health Cooperation and Canada’s Weapons Threat Reduction Program (WTRP), particularly through the Mitigation of Biological Threats (MBT) in the ASEAN Region Programme.
The MBT Programme has made significant contributions to ASEAN Health Cooperation by providing a platform and established mechanisms in managing and responding to public health emergencies such as the ASEAN Emergency Operation Centre (EOC) Network, the ASEAN BioDiaspora Virtual Centre (ABVC), and the ASEAN+3 Field Epidemiology Training Network will be central to discussions, highlighting their contributions to detecting, managing, and responding to health security emergencies.
This event will explore how to:
- Catalyse multi-sectoral collaboration to implement the ASEAN Leaders’ Declaration on Strengthening Regional Biosafety and Biosecurity.
- Strengthen health-security governance and foster new norms to address biological threats and pandemics.
- Advance ASEAN’s capacity to manage biological threats, respond to health emergencies, and bolster global health security efforts.
In association with ASEAN Health Sector MBT Programme and Global Affairs Canada
In association with
