The proposed technical assistance (TA) addresses the need for improved Greater Mekong Subregion (GMS) regional health cooperation. The TA will provide a platform for a more coherent policy environment at both national and regional levels, which is supportive of cross-border collaboration and targeting vulnerable populations. The TA will also produce innovative ideas for a regional portfolio.
Project Name | Strengthening Regional Health Cooperation in the Greater Mekong Subregion | ||||||||||||||
Project Number | 51151-001 | ||||||||||||||
Country | Regional Cambodia Lao People's Democratic Republic Myanmar China, People's Republic of Thailand Viet Nam |
||||||||||||||
Project Status | Active | ||||||||||||||
Project Type / Modality of Assistance | Technical Assistance |
||||||||||||||
Source of Funding / Amount |
|
||||||||||||||
Strategic Agendas | Inclusive economic growth Regional integration |
||||||||||||||
Drivers of Change | Gender Equity and Mainstreaming Governance and capacity development Knowledge solutions Partnerships |
||||||||||||||
Sector / Subsector | Health / Disease control of communicable disease - Health system development |
||||||||||||||
Gender Equity and Mainstreaming | Effective gender mainstreaming | ||||||||||||||
Description | The proposed technical assistance (TA) addresses the need for improved Greater Mekong Subregion (GMS) regional health cooperation. The TA will provide a platform for a more coherent policy environment at both national and regional levels, which is supportive of cross-border collaboration and targeting vulnerable populations. The TA will also produce innovative ideas for a regional portfolio. | ||||||||||||||
Project Rationale and Linkage to Country/Regional Strategy | All countries in the GMS are committed to achieving the Sustainable Development Goals for health. While health indicators have generally improved in recent years, communicable diseases remain a constant problem, reflected in rapid transmission rates and high case fatality. Outbreaks in the past decade have had severe economic consequences, (i) severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) is estimated to have cost Asian countries $30 billion, (ii) avian influenza A (H5N1) caused $120 million in losses for Viet Nam, and (iii) avian flu-related diseases in Thailand resulted in 1.5% GDP growth loss during 2003 -2004. Challenging disease control environment. The GMS countries are characterized by increasing populations, dense and highly mobile labor force and inter-connected economies, which make disease control evermore challenging. Poor and marginalized people, including undocumented migrants, indigenous people, youth, and women in border zones disproportionately carry the burden of disease, especially infections such as HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis, malaria, dengue, and neglected tropical diseases. These groups are often excluded from communicable disease control (CDC) programs for a variety of reasons, including economic conditions, cultural beliefs, social acceptability, and perceived affordability. Another major concern in the region is the spread of hospital-acquired infections and drug resistance, particularly of tuberculosis and malaria. Investing in emerging disease control has a strong public goods rationale. CDC is classed as a regional or global public good, characterized by its non-excludability and non-rivalry. Non-excludability means that once provided, no country can be excluded from consumption and is thus available to all, while non-rivalry suggests that one country's consumption does not impede or limit consumption for another country. These characteristics give rise to free-riding effects, where countries do not want to invest individually and bear the cost while others reap free' benefits. Consequently, the provision of public goods such as CDC is not guaranteed by any one country, and often requires an intervening force to bring relevant stakeholders to invest together. In this sense, global or regional cooperation provides one solution to a collective action problem and is especially important where inter-connected economies allow for movement of people and similarly, diseases. For example, migrants returning with HIV, malaria, or tuberculosis need continuity of treatment to avoid complications and drug resistance. In turn, this requires regional health financing systems and a network of facilities for migrants. Similarly, control of emerging infectious diseases requires both proactive and reactive rapid response, involving multiple actors and cooperation. Regional collaboration also has other benefits such as technology transfer and human resource development, economies of scale, and increased leverage for fund-raising. |
||||||||||||||
Impact | Healthy lives ensured and well-being promoted for all at all ages (Sustainable Development Goal 3) |
Project Outcome | |
---|---|
Description of Outcome | Regional health cooperation in GMS strengthened |
Progress Toward Outcome | The TA serves as a common platform for the GMS health portfolio and synergizes with other ADB health projects and regional collaboration covering Cambodia, the Lao People's Democratic Republic, Myanmar, Viet Nam, Thailand, and the PRC. The implementation progress under each Output is summarized below. |
Implementation Progress | |
Description of Project Outputs | GMS Working Group on Health Cooperation (WGHC) established GMS Health Cooperation Strategy developed and implemented Knowledge development and exchange promoted Capacity to implement One Health Response to public health threats improved |
Status of Implementation Progress (Outputs, Activities, and Issues) | Output 1: - Engaged consultants (Public Health; Regional Coordinator for Health Cooperation; Research Team Leader and Migrant Health; Finance; M&E) to support overall TA coordination; - Prepared the GMS WGHC TORs, membership and reporting arrangements; - Established the GMS WGHC secretariat; - Launched the GMS WGHC; conducted WGHC annual meetings in 2017, 2018 and 2019; - Organized a roundtable discussion on Regional Investment Framework for Migrant Health in the GMS in Thailand, November 2018. Output 2: - Finalized and published the 5-year (2019-2023) GMS health cooperation strategy in June 2019; - Reviewed and updated the GMS Regional Investment Framework (Health and HRD sector); - Ongoing mapping of regional health projects in the GMS. Output 3: - Updated regularly the WGHC page in the GMS website; - Published the "Greater Mekong Subregion Health Cooperation Strategy 2019-2023"; - Ongoing finalization of the implementation framework for the GMS health cooperation strategy and completion of the regional cooperation-related research. Output 4: The regional activities will be broadened to provide immediate capacity building support for One Health implementation. The One Health concept recognizes that the health of people is connected to the health of animals and the environment. It is defined as a collaborative, multisectoral, and transdisciplinary approach working t the local, regional, national, and global levels with the goal of achieving optimal health outcomes recognizing the interconnection between people, animals, plants, and their shared environment. In the PRC, the TA will (i) develop recommendations for improved outbreak investigation and response in live animal markets, (ii) develop recommendations for outbreak surveillance and response in rural areas, and (iii) strengthen the health system's resilience and capacity for epidemic response. This includes provision of laboratory equipment to help investigate and combat the outbreak. |
Geographical Location | Cambodia - Nation-wide; China - Nation-wide; Lao People's Democratic Republic - Nation-wide; Myanmar - Nation-wide; Thailand - Nation-wide; Viet Nam - Nation-wide |
Summary of Environmental and Social Aspects | |
---|---|
Environmental Aspects | |
Involuntary Resettlement | |
Indigenous Peoples | |
Stakeholder Communication, Participation, and Consultation | |
During Project Design | |
During Project Implementation | A GMS working group on health cooperation is functioning and has held three regional meetings in 2017, 2018 and 2019. The latest meeting held in December 2019 convened participants from all six countries and representatives from other development partners, civil society organizations, private sector and ADB. |
Business Opportunities | |
---|---|
Consulting Services | The TA has hired five individual consultants to support overall TA coordination. Flexibility to mobilize expertise is provided by determining the terms of reference and selection method during TA implementation and as the WGHC is set up. Possible areas of expertise include national planning, regional cooperation, migration, gender, zoonosis, laboratories, surveillance, drug resistance, financing, and knowledge management. The increase in TA amount will also support the engagement of a consulting firm to assist the PRC and other GMS countries in preventing outbreaks of emerging infectious diseases and strengthening planning and implementation capacity for One Health in the future. |
Procurement | The increase in TA amount will allow (i) immediate procurement of the laboratory equipment, and (ii) engagement of a consulting firm including technical experts and resource persons, to provide capacity development and advisory support. The firm will assist the PRC and other GMS countries in preventing outbreaks of emerging infectious diseases and strengthening planning and implementation capacity for One Health in the future. The additional support complements ongoing ADB assistance through the regional health security project. |
Responsible ADB Officer | Elfving, Rikard N. |
Responsible ADB Department | Southeast Asia Department |
Responsible ADB Division | Human and Social Development Division, SERD |
Timetable | |
---|---|
Concept Clearance | 21 Jun 2017 |
Fact Finding | 03 Jul 2017 to 07 Jul 2017 |
MRM | - |
Approval | 22 Aug 2018 |
Last Review Mission | - |
Last PDS Update | 10 Feb 2020 |
TA 9571-REG
Milestones | |||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Approval | Signing Date | Effectivity Date | Closing | ||
Original | Revised | Actual | |||
22 Aug 2018 | - | 22 Aug 2018 | 30 Sep 2020 | 30 Sep 2022 | - |
Financing Plan/TA Utilization | Cumulative Disbursements | |||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
ADB | Cofinancing | Counterpart | Total | Date | Amount | |||
Gov | Beneficiaries | Project Sponsor | Others | |||||
7,000,000.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 7,000,000.00 | 22 Aug 2018 | 1,222,922.33 |
Project Data Sheets (PDS) contain summary information on the project or program. Because the PDS is a work in progress, some information may not be included in its initial version but will be added as it becomes available. Information about proposed projects is tentative and indicative.
The Access to Information Policy (AIP) recognizes that transparency and accountability are essential to development effectiveness. It establishes the disclosure requirements for documents and information ADB produces or requires to be produced.
The Accountability Mechanism provides a forum where people adversely affected by ADB-assisted projects can voice and seek solutions to their problems and report alleged noncompliance of ADB's operational policies and procedures.
In preparing any country program or strategy, financing any project, or by making any designation of, or reference to, a particular territory or geographic area in this document, the Asian Development Bank does not intend to make any judgments as to the legal or other status of any territory or area.
Title | Document Type | Document Date |
---|---|---|
Strengthening Regional Health Cooperation in the Greater Mekong Subregion: Technical Assistance Report | Technical Assistance Reports | Aug 2018 |
Safeguard Documents See also: Safeguards
Safeguard documents provided at the time of project/facility approval may also be found in the list of linked documents provided with the Report and Recommendation of the President.
None currently available.
Evaluation Documents See also: Independent Evaluation
None currently available.
Related Publications
Title | Document Type | Document Date |
---|---|---|
Greater Mekong Subregion Health Cooperation Strategy 2019–2023 | Policies, Strategies, and Plans | Jun 2019 |
The Access to Information Policy (AIP) establishes the disclosure requirements for documents and information ADB produces or requires to be produced in its operations to facilitate stakeholder participation in ADB's decision-making. For more information, refer to the Safeguard Policy Statement, Operations Manual F1, and Operations Manual L3.
Requests for information may also be directed to the InfoUnit.
-
ADB Initiates Coronavirus Response
ADB today approved $2 million in new funding to support efforts to combat the spread of the novel coronavirus (nCoV).
Tenders
Tender Title | Type | Status | Posting Date | Deadline |
---|---|---|---|---|
Consulting firm with specific expertise in health security and One Health approaches | Firm - Consulting | Closed | 26 Feb 2020 | 11 Mar 2020 |
Resource Speaker at the 3rd GMS Working Group on Health Cooperation Meeting | Individual - Consulting | Closed | 19 Nov 2019 | 25 Nov 2019 |
Demographer/health economist (Health) in the GMS | Individual - Consulting | Closed | 05 Feb 2019 | 19 Mar 2019 |
Research team leader and migrant health specialist | Individual - Consulting | Closed | 05 Feb 2019 | 18 Feb 2019 |
Regional Coordinator for Health Cooperation | Individual - Consulting | Closed | 11 Sep 2018 | 17 Sep 2018 |
Finance Specialist | Individual - Consulting | Closed | 11 Sep 2018 | 24 Sep 2018 |
Public Health Specialist | Individual - Consulting | Closed | 11 Sep 2018 | 17 Sep 2018 |
Contracts Awarded
No contracts awarded for this project were found
Procurement Plan
None currently available.