- WATCH: With proactive planning and investment in health and other sectors—and the support of partners like ADB—the Greater Mekong Subregion countries are meeting the challenge of the COVID-19 pandemic while ensuring faster economic recovery
- WATCH: Through 2 decades of investments ADB has supported Greater Mekong Subregion countries’ efforts to develop core health system capacities vs public health threats while building a foundation for enhanced cooperation on health security
- WATCH: ADB's GMS Health Security Project allows funds to be quickly reprogrammed to address major public health emergencies; when COVID-19 struck reallocated funds helped government purchase PPEs, ventilators, bedside monitors, and other equipment
With proactive planning and investment in health and other sectors—and the support of partners like ADB—the six countries of the Greater Mekong Subregion (GMS) are meeting the challenge of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic while ensuring faster economic recovery.
Through two decades of investments, ADB has supported GMS countries’ efforts to develop core health system capacities for responding to public health threats, while simultaneously building a foundation for enhanced regional cooperation on health security, including $145 million in loans and grants to Cambodia, Lao People’s Democratic Republic, Myanmar, and Viet Nam through the GMS Health Security Project.
The project allows funds to be quickly reprogrammed to address major public health emergencies. When COVID-19 struck, reallocated funds helped governments across the GMS to purchase PPEs, ventilators, bedside monitors, and other equipment, and allowed them to adopt new measures to control COVID-19, including the rapid dispatch of thermal scanners to points of entry.
Transcript
Due to increasing flows of people and goods across borders, the Greater Mekong Subregion is a hotspot for communicable diseases, such as rabies, measles, dengue, cholera, and avian flu.
But the six GMS countries have done well to keep infections of COVID-19 to a minimum at just over 6,000 at the start of September, according to data from the World Health Organization and the Johns Hopkins University.
Ayako Inagaki
Director, Human and Social Development, Southeast Asia Department
Asian Development Bank
The success of GMS countries in controlling COVID-19 is not surprising. The key is years of efforts to improve their ability to detect, respond and control emerging disease threats, so they can mitigate a pandemic’s human health, economic and social impacts.
Through two decades of investments, ADB has supported GMS countries’ efforts to develop core health system capacities for responding to public health threats, while simultaneously building a foundation for enhanced regional cooperation on health security.
That includes $125 million in loans and grants to Cambodia, Lao PDR, Myanmar, and Viet Nam through the GMS Health Security Project.
The project allows funds to be quickly reprogrammed to address major public health emergencies. When COVID-19 struck, reallocated funds helped government purchase PPEs, ventilators, bedside monitors, and other equipment.
The project also allowed governments to adopt new measures to control COVID-19, including the rapid dispatch of thermal scanners to points of entry.
Myanmar, for example, will receive $30 million in additional financing to help the government make immediate investments in 31 district and township hospitals across the country, including capacity building for the health system to respond to COVID-19 and other future public health threats.
In May, the project allocated $20 million for Lao PDR to purchase essential medical equipment, including testing kits, medical devices, and ambulances.
Tiengkham Siriphokha
Nurse, COVID-19 Quarantine Center
Vientiane
The use of medical equipment supported by ADB such as gloves, masks, head cover, and gowns, can minimize the spread of COVID-19 and save our lives.
The project is in line with the GMS Health Cooperation Strategy, under which countries are committed to improving health systems performance in response to public health threats.
Bounkong Syhavong
Minister of Health
Lao PDR
The health network we have in place helps countries tackle the pandemics and reduce their impact. Under the GMS cooperation program, countries work closely together to control infectious diseases and pandemics more effectively.
With proactive planning and investment in health and other sectors — and the support of partners like ADB — the six countries of the Greater Mekong Subregion are meeting the challenge of this pandemic and ensure a faster economic recovery.
