- ENVforum Annual Conference 2020
9-11 November 2020
- ENVforum Webinar Series
28 October - 11 November
- ASEF Higher Education Innovation Lab (ASEFInnoLab)
November-December 2020
9-11 November 2020
28 October - 11 November
November-December 2020
The Asia-Europe Foundation (ASEF) is an intergovernmental, not-for-profit organisation which brings together the people of Asia and Europe to address common global challenges. It is the only permanent institution of the Asia-Europe Meeting (ASEM) political dialogue Process and is publicly funded by voluntary contributions from 53 ASEM Partners.
Public Health is one of ASEF’s seven key thematic areas. In this field, we engage governments, international organisations and civil society to share best practices and lessons learnt on public health issues related to infectious diseases, including risk communication for public health emergencies. We facilitate capacity-building and knowledge-sharing platforms that result in publications with recommended solutions for common public health challenges to combat future pandemics. We are part of the ASEM Initiative for Rapid Containment of Pandemic Influenza that supports pandemic preparedness and response across Asia and Europe.
The ASEF Public Health Network (ASEF PHN) was launched in 2009 according to recommendations from ASEM Leaders at the 7th ASEM Summit in 2008. ASEF PHN is the “soft” component of this ASEM initiative, focusing on capacity building amongst ASEM partners. The "hard” component is the Stockpiling of anti-viral drugs and personal protective equipment (PPE). This comprises the visible part of pandemic preparedness.
During the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, many ASEM partners benefitted from this stockpile.
Every year, we organise the High-level Meeting on Risk Communication for Public Health Emergencies. In 2019, the focus was on risk communication beyond country borders (18-19 September 2019, Bangkok, Thailand). Attendees include the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control, the European Commission, various ASEM Ministries of Health, the Asian Development Bank, WHO and representatives from the private sector e.g. Thai Airways.
In 2019, we published the ASEM Partners’ Guide for Risk Communication for Public Health Emergencies with recommendations on “how can we include migrants and ethnic minorities”.
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ENVforum Webinar Series 28 October - 11 November 2020 In the lead-up to the Annual Conference we are organising three thematic webinars on Single-use Plastic, Sustainable Garments and Antimicrobial resistence impact on achieving the SDGs. These three...
ASEF ClassNet School Collaborations 2020
The outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic caused severe disruptions in the education sector and heavily affected teachers, students and parents alike. School closures and the move to full home-based learning globally had far-reaching effects on the teaching...
Asia-Europe Virtual Forum on Combatting Substandard and Falsified Medicines (SFMs)
Introduction The ASEF Public Health Network together with the Ministry of Health of Cambodia will host the Asia-Europe Virtual Forum on Combatting Substandard and Falsified Medicines, on 29-30 September 2020. The forum will take place virtually due to...
High-level Meeting on Risk Communications for Public Health Emergencies
Risk Communication Beyond the Country Borders As global connectivity increases, the risk of epidemics and pandemics also increases. In an interdependent world, public health incidents in one country can rapidly affect its neighbours and even trigger...
In 2018, the Asia-Europe Foundation and the Santé publique France jointly host the “High-level Meeting on Risk Communications for Public Health Emergencies" with a special focus on how to reach special population, including migrants and ethnic...
High-level Meeting – Universal Health Coverage as a Tool to Combat Infectious Diseases
In 2018, the Asia-Europe Foundation (ASEF) Public Health Network and Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Japan are co-hosting a multi-country, High-level Meeting focusing on Universal Health Coverage (UHC) in relation to effective management of infectious...
Regional Training on Risk Communication for Public Health Emergencies
ASEF Public Health Network (PHN) will launch its first training initiative on Risk Communications for Public Health Emergencies. Co-organised with the General Department of Preventive Medecine, Ministry of Health Viet Nam (GDPM - MoH), this training...
High-Level Meeting on Risk Communications for Public Health Emergencies
The Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (KCDC) and the Asia-Europe Foundation (ASEF) are in partnership to host a multi-country, high-level meeting focussing on managing risk communications for public health emergencies. The overall aim...
The Asia-Europe Foundation (ASEF) and European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) jointly co-organised a workshop on "How can we be better prepared for the next global health threat? Planning and implementing emergency risk communication"...
Addressing Health Vulnerabilities of Migrants in Large Migration Flows
Since 2011, the ASEF Public Health Network (PHN) has been promoting Asia-Europe collaboration on migrants’ health. In this endeavour, ASEF has facilitated information exchange and knowledge sharing among representatives from international organisations,...
Since its launch in 2009, ASEF Public Health Network has contributed to strengthening ASEM partners’ capacity for managing public health emergencies through sharing best practices and analysing lessons learned. Risk communications for public health...
Migrants and Healthcare: Socio-economic Approaches and Strengthening Partnerships
Healthcare for migrants has become a key issue for many of ASEM countries, which especially relates to human rights, economic growth and social security. While globalised labour markets demand a healthy and productive workforce, in both...
Seminar "Strengthening Asia-Europe Collaboration on Migrants' Health"
Since 2011, the Asia-Europe Foundation (ASEF) Public Health Network has promoted collaboration between Asia and Europe on migration health. In this endeavour, ASEF facilitated exchange of information and sharing of knowledge among representatives from...
Workshop "Risk Communications for Public Health Emergencies: What to Learn from Real-life Events"
From 2010 to 2013, the Asia-Europe Foundation (ASEF) Public Health Network implemented the Accurate Scenarios Active Preparedness (ASEF–ASAP) project to strengthen multi-sector pandemic preparedness and response. The project utilised a scenario approach...
ASEF Support to ASEM Workshop on Public Health Emergency Management
Currently, the frequently occurred public health emergencies have increasingly been an issue of concern. In an interdependent and interconnected world as ours, the public health incident in one country may well affect other countries rapidly, even cause...
Health of Chinese and Filipino Migrants in Milan: Present Challenges Potential Opportunities
The Asia-Europe Foundation (ASEF) and Fondazione ISMU, with the support of Milan Municipality, co-hosted a Public Event 'Health of Chinese and Filipino Migrants in Milan: Present Challenges Potential Opportunities' on Wednesday 9...
Expert Consultation - Strengthening Bi-regional Capacity for Managing Public Health Emergencies
The Asia-Europe Foundation (ASEF) Public Health Network organised a consultation round with its key-stakeholders, including international and regional organisations, to take stock of the priorities for each stakeholder in tackling the gaps and challenges...
Developing a Better Policy Context for Social Enterprises in Asia and Europe
Overview The Asia-Europe Foundations (ASEF) Public Health Network and British Council’s Skills for Social Entrepreneurs programme brought in Asia-Europe senior policy influencers in Berlin for a two day policy dialogue. This was an occasion to share...
Effective Risk Communication for Public Health Emergencies and the Role of Social Media
Risk communication plays a vital role in mitigating the adverse impacts of a public health emergency. However, recent events have shown that risk communication is not easy to manage. Trust is a key element in the internal decision-making process, when...
Asia Europe Relations - 30 Years in the Future
The Asia-Europe Foundation (ASEF) and the United Nations University-Institute on Comparative Regional Integration Studies (UNU-CRIS) organised a presentation of the ASEM Outlook Report 2012 in Bangkok (Thailand) on 11 March 2013. The ASEM Outlook Report...
Co-organised by ASEF and UNU-CRIS, the workshop provided a platform on which the findings of the ASEM Outlook Report and other cross-cutting issues of relevance to Asia and Europe can be discussed. The Workshop participants reviewed the Report...
Bringing the Migrant Health Discourse into Policy
"Migration is a fact of life and governments face the challenge of integrating the health needs of migrants into national plans, policies and strategies," reported the World Health Organization (WHO) in March 2010. Identification of migrants' health-related...
Strategy Development Workshop on Pandemic Preparedness and Response for Food Supply Security
Within a “whole-of-society” approach to pandemic preparedness, the food sector is recognised as an essential service which needs to be maintained during a pandemic or any public health emergency. The complex supply chain structure of this sector and...
About the Joint Research project: The selected research team will have a balanced representation of Asian and European nationals. They will liaise with ASEF to conduct policy-oriented research to: 1) address priority issues, provide...
Skills for Social Entrepreneurs
What is Skills for Social Entrepreneurs? Skills for Social Entrepreneurs is a capacity building programme that provides skills and support systems for a new community of social entrepreneurs. The first workshop took place in Yangon, Myanmar (21-23 May)...
Social determinants of migrants’ health across Asia and Europe
The ASEF Public Health Network will organise a series of research exchange workshops from 2012 to 2013. The first workshop in 2012 was on 8 – 9 March in Barcelona, co-organised with Casa Asia. This workshop provided an avenue for exchanging research...
Health and Migration: perspectives from Asia and Europe
Several social determinants create regional and cross-border impact on migrants’ health in Asia and Europe.This Public Talk was an interactive forum to share and know more about such perceptions. Asian and European speakers shared their insights into...
Asia & Europe: are we prepared for future pandemics?
The ASEF Public Health Network organised a Public Briefing to share the ASEF-ASAP (Accurate Scenarios, Active Preparedness) scenarios for pandemic preparedness. The event was held on Thursday 2 February 2012 at Brussels, Belgium. This briefing was the...
ASEF Public Health Network: 3rd Advisory Group Meeting
The Advisory Group Meeting for ASEF Public Health Network was held on 1February 2012 in Brussels, Belgium. Members of the Group provided technical and strategic inputs to the Network’s activities for 2012. Future partnership possibilities were also...
ASEF organised a Strategy Development Workshop on Preparedness for Pandemics and Public Health Emergencies in the Passenger Air Transport Sector in Budapest, Hungary (15-16 December 2011). During pandemics or any public health emergency, the air transport...
10th Asia-Europe Young Volunteers’ Exchange: Health on Stage
21 enthusiastic volunteers from 14 ASEM countries were engaged in a 6-week project “Health on Stage”. Divided in three groups, the volunteers organised forum theatre performances with and for the local communities in South India. They worked...
ASEFUAN holds 10th Academic Conference and Annual General Meeting (AGM) in Amsterdam
The 10th Annual General Meeting (AGM) of the ASEF University Alumni Network (ASEFUAN) took place in Amsterdam, the Netherlands on 05 August 2010. It was preceded by a 2-day academic conference on 3-4 August 2011, entitled "Securing Public Health...
ASEF scenarios to deal with future pandemics
The ASEF Public Health Network organised the ASEF-ASAP (Accurate Scenarios - Active Preparedness) scenarios launch on Monday 13 June in Bangkok. This multimedia launch was a unique opportunity to present the objectives behind the scenario planning initiative...
After the series of scenario development workshops in 2010, the ASEF Public Health Network introduced a new set of workshops this year. These workshops are being organised to design multi-sector strategies for pandemic preparedness across Asia and Europe....
The Asia-Europe Foundation (ASEF) invites researchers in the field of infectious diseases to submit research proposals for the ASEF Public Health Network’s research project on ‘Regional Integration and Infectious Diseases in Asia and Europe. The ASEF...
ASEF Public Health Network: 2nd Advisory Group Meeting
This meeting convened eight Advisory Group Members from international and regional organisations, non-profits, and the private sector in Asia and Europe. During the Meeting, members discussed the future direction for the ASEF Public Health Network and...
Participants of the previous two scenario-building workshops regrouped for this final three-day workshop to firm up future scenarios for multi-sector preparedness until 2040. As a follow up, communication tools for the scenarios will be developed and...
This instalment of ASEF University promoted discussion on how barriers to quality healthcare could be reduced, and how awareness on public health issues could be increased. It was an opportunity for top university students from Asia and Europe to discuss...
Based on the outputs from the 1st scenario-building workshop, 25 high-level participants from Asia and Europe, representing a wide range of sectors, worked intensively to build up the scenarios’ logic and initiate the formulation of scenario storylines....
ASEF Public Health Network: Expert Meeting: Regional Integration and Infectious Diseases
As the two main regional organisations of the Network’s Advisory Group, the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) Secretariat and the European Commission have confirmed their willingness to share each other’s experiences and explore areas...
Recent H1N1 virus has made the world realise that pandemics are not a myth of the distant past, but they can become a concrete, actual threat to business continuity, well-being, and survival worldwide. Dealing with pandemics is always an enormous challenge....
Participants at this inaugural meeting consolidated and approved the frameworks for the Network and its partners, as well as agreed on the implementation schedules of the Network's activities for 2010. The partners present during the meeting...
ASEF Network For Public Health: Partners' Meeting
Representatives of six key organisations, identified as core partners for the Network through a consultation process, attended the first Partners’ Meeting. This served as an opportunity to present ASEF’s initial work in public health and to discuss...
ASEM Initiative For The Rapid Containment Of Pandemic Influenza: Launching Ceremony
The Launching Ceremony was opened with remarks by key speakers from ASEF and the Ministries of Foreign Affairs of Japan and Vietnam respectively, The event was followed by the symbolic handover of an inventory list, presented to the Vietnamese Foreign...
ASEM Seminar: The Combination Of Traditional And Modern Medicine For Public Health Care
Seventy experts from ASEM member countries participated in this seminar. Initiated by the Vietnam Government at the first ASEM meeting in Bangkok, the meeting adopted follow-up proposals to strengthen co-operation between Asia and Europe on the exchange...
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