G20 and Japan put health high on the agenda

APLMA and ADB visit to Japan

On January 16 to 18, Japan hosted the G20 Finance Minister and Central Bank Governors Deputy Meeting in Tokyo. Universal Health Coverage (UHC) and the future of health financing were high on the agenda. Japan is a steadfast champion of UHC, and a leader in financing the fight against malaria and other communicable diseases. This leadership is more critical now than ever. In fact, 2019 is set to shape the health and financing agenda for years to come. This year in June, Japan will host the first ever joint session of Health and Finance Ministers in the G20; in September, the UN General Assembly will hold the first high-level meeting on UHC; and in October, France will host the Global Fund’s sixth replenishment conference. It is an exciting time for the fight against malaria, and more broadly for health financing. APLMA is committed to supporting these seminal moments – to ensure a useful outcome and keep malaria elimination in Asia Pacific as a priority.

Following the G20 Deputy Meeting, ADB, APLMA and Malaria No More Japan jointly visited Ministries of Finance, Foreign Affairs, and Health, as well as JICA, Professor Keizo Takemi and other partners. The conversation centred on the future of health financing including Blended Finance for Impact – the partnership between APLMA, ADB and the Global Fund; the recently announced Regional Health Fund, deepened collaboration on malaria and UHC, as well as opportunities to support the Global Fund’s replenishment efforts. As an outcome from the visit, JICA has agreed to engage in the Blended Financing Partnership.

In February, JICA and ADB Presidents will host a joint meeting to advance health collaboration in the region, with participants from Ministries of Finance and Health from countries in Asia Pacific, the Global Fund and APLMA. The meeting will serve to draw up concrete plans to support collaborative health financing efforts in 2019 and beyond.