ASEAN Centre for Public Health Emergencies and Emerging Diseases: Thailand’s Proposal

Abstract

The COVID-19 pandemic had major negative impacts on health and economic in ASEAN. This calls for ASEAN Member States to strengthen the pandemic preparedness and response capacities for future public health threats. The ASEAN Centre for Public Health Emergencies and Emerging Diseases (ACPHEED) was proposed by ASEAN Member States to enhance regional capacities for public health emergencies and emerging diseases. The Senior Officials’ Meeting on Health and Development (SOMHD) agreed to conduct the feasibility study of the establishment of the ACPHEED; results have shown feasible and necessary for the establishment of the ACPHEED. Several ASEAN Member States expressed their interests and offered to host the ACPHEED. Evidence shows that Thailand has most outstanding health security capabilities, as reflected by the 6th global rank among 195 countries in 2019; Thailand is an international travel hub for Asia. Various SOMHD Special Conferences were convened during 2019- 2021 to decide on the most appropriate country to host the ACPHEED. By mid-2021, three shortlisted countries, Indonesia, Thailand, and Viet Nam insisted on hosting ACPHEED without flexibility after several rounds of conversation and negotiations. This prolonged the decision by SOMHD on the ACPHEED host country for almost two years, amid the political pressure from Japan who pledged to provide financial support to the establishment of the ACPHEED. This article presents the background of negotiation towards ACPHEED host country selection; Thailand’s proposal to host the Centre, and the negotiation process on ACPHEED host country, including its outstanding issues as of the first quarter 2022.