Asia Pacific Observatory on Health Systems and Policies

📣 The Asia Pacific Observatory on Health Systems and Policies (APO) is accepting expressions of interest for membership on its Internal Review Panel (IRP).

🔹The IRP provides independent technical oversight to the APO Board and Secretariat by reviewing research quality, advising on policy relevance and shaping APO's strategic research agenda in the Asia Pacific region.

🔹APO is a WHO-hosted regional initiative that generates and brokers evidence to strengthen health systems across South-East Asia and the Western Pacific. Working with a network of over 50 leading research institutions, APO produces policy dialogues, health systems reviews, policy briefs and comparative country studies that inform policymaking.

📋 Terms of Reference: https://bit.ly/apo-irp-tor

📥 Apply here: https://bit.ly/apo-irp-2026

📅 Deadline: 31 May 2026

📩 Inquiries: [email protected]

🤝 This , we stand and with health policy and systems researchers, institutions and partners collaborating toward evidence-informed policymaking.

🌏 The Asia Pacific Observatory on Health Systems and Policies works with over 50 institutions from 19 countries across 15 consortia, generating the health policy evidence that policymakers and ministries of health across Asia Pacific need.

Our consortia work across five thematic priorities:

1️⃣ Primary Health Care and Universal Health Coverage
2️⃣ Digital Health
3️⃣ Human Resources for Health
4️⃣ Health Equity
5️⃣ Health System Resilience to Climate Change and Pandemics

The best evidence is never produced in isolation. It is built through relationships, between governments and academic institutions, between policymakers and researchers. By sharing what works and what does not, we build the foundation for stronger, more equitable health systems across Asia Pacific.

The first-ever high-level Summit takes place in Lyon today – a landmark opportunity to strengthen global health and security.

Pandemics. Drug resistance. Food safety. The climate crisis. It’s all inextricably connected.

In this op-ed for the World Economic Forum, our Regional Director Dr Saia Ma’u Piukala urges WHO Member States to make the investments necessary to take One Health from slogan to reality – for once and for all.

"There is the issue of context. We make decisions not in the absence of context, but because of context. For example, an archipelago could not be compared with a landlocked country, which is easily accessible when it comes to service delivery.

There is the issue of data comparability. What we often see is that countries don’t have the same data because they’re collecting it differently.

There are also political sensitivities, informal rules, open practices and unwritten histories.

We know policymakers typically want this comparison tomorrow, but to do this work, it takes time."

🗨️Excerpt from Asia Pacific Observatory on Health Systems and Policies Director Nima Asgari's talk at the Network Convergence Forum 2026 in Cebu, Philippines.

🤝Thank you to the Department of Health (Philippines) and Results for Development for convening this forum and to colleagues across the HPSR community for the rich exchange.

📍APO is in Cebu for the Network Convergence Forum 2026!

Grateful to Department of Health (Philippines) and Results for Development for convening this forum as well as to all the researchers, policymakers and health practitioners who are doing the hard work of bridging evidence and action.

Pleased to be joined by consortia partners National University of Singapore (NUS) and Universitas Gadjah Mada (UGM).

📣𝐍𝐄𝐖 𝐑𝐄𝐏𝐎𝐑𝐓: A Healthy Future: Primary Health Care and the Chronic Disease Epidemic in East Asia and the Pacific

🌏 The World Bank Group's latest publication examines how countries across East Asia and the Pacific can strengthen primary health care ( ) systems to address the growing burden of noncommunicable diseases ( )—particularly cardiovascular disease, diabetes and cancer—where service delivery often remains focused more on treatment than prevention.

💡If not addressed, health costs could rise sharply. For example, Fiji may need to increase health spending 2.5 times by 2050 just to address the growing burden of NCDs.

📝Because strong PHC systems are essential to prevention and long-term management of NCDs, the report includes cross-country comparable insights on how PHC systems are structured, financed and delivered across the region. The analysis draws on the expert survey and document reviews conducted by the Asia Pacific Observatory on Health Systems and Policies, working with ministries of health ( ) and 10 partner institutions across the region.

🧭A shared framework toward a healthier

🤝Together with representatives from ministries of health, schools of public health and policy institutes from Cambodia, Indonesia, Lao PDR, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Viet Nam, joined a consultative exchange convened by NUS Saw Swee Hock School of Public Health and China Medical Board on strengthening capacity to use data for health policy and health systems decision-making.

💡A key outcome was a shared agreement among representatives to move forward in building a collaborative regional network and to use ’s Health Systems in Transition ( ) Review template as a common framework to assess and compare health system performance across .

📘 's flagship publication, the , is among the most downloaded publications across World Health Organization South-East Asia Region - WHO SEARO and World Health Organization Western Pacific Region. The template offers a practical foundation for advancing health policy and systems research ( ) and strengthening evidence-informed policy dialogue.

🌏Health system resilience to climate change is a planning challenge today.

At , thoughtful moderation by Dr Jemilah Mahmood sharpened the focus on health system resilience in the face of climate risk.

As climate change intensifies risks, health research must adapt from describing demographic shifts to actively informing health system planning.

Evidence has to be used in policy decisions that shape health systems decades ahead.

Prince Mahidol Award Conference

📍 at

We’re grateful to be at the Prince Mahidol Award Conference this week—hosting, moderating and participating in conversations that put primary health care, universal health coverage and health systems resilience at the center of regional dialogue.

⭐ will be at Prince Mahidol Award Conference 2026 ( ) in Bangkok!

We're honored to be co-hosting, moderating and contributing to multiple side meetings focused on primary health care ( ), universal health coverage ( ) and health systems resilience across Asia Pacific.

If you're at PMAC, join our side meeting on "Bridging policy gaps with evidence," co-hosted with World Health Organization South-East Asia Region - WHO SEARO and World Health Organization Western Pacific Region, as we reflect on emerging evidence and build consensus around actionable policy options to strengthen PHC.

📢 Join 's side meeting at !

At the Prince Mahidol Award Conference ( ), the Asia Pacific Observatory on Health Systems and Policies—together with World Health Organization South-East Asia Region - WHO SEARO and World Health Organization Western Pacific Region—will convene a side meeting (SMB214) on:

💡𝐁𝐫𝐢𝐝𝐠𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐩𝐨𝐥𝐢𝐜𝐲 𝐠𝐚𝐩𝐬 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐞𝐯𝐢𝐝𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐞:
𝐒𝐭𝐫𝐞𝐧𝐠𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐩𝐫𝐢𝐦𝐚𝐫𝐲 𝐡𝐞𝐚𝐥𝐭𝐡 𝐜𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐚𝐜𝐫𝐨𝐬𝐬 𝐀𝐬𝐢𝐚 𝐏𝐚𝐜𝐢𝐟𝐢𝐜

This session will build on the research findings of APO and World Bank East Asia Pacific in landscaping systems in 25 countries in East Asia Pacific which is expanded to additional six South Asian countries. This informs the determination of evidence of linkages to health outcomes and socio-demographic determinants and facilitates discussions on financing and demographic transitions.

Participants will hear from and engage with representatives from ministries of health, regional organizations and leading research institutions.

🗓 27 January 2026 (Tuesday)
🕑14:00–17:30 (GMT+7, Bangkok time)
📍Lotus Suite 11, Centara Grand at CentralWorld

𝐀𝐝𝐯𝐚𝐧𝐜𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐄𝐯𝐢𝐝𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐞-𝐈𝐧𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐦𝐞𝐝 𝐏𝐨𝐥𝐢𝐜𝐲𝐦𝐚𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐀𝐜𝐫𝐨𝐬𝐬 𝐀𝐬𝐢𝐚 𝐏𝐚𝐜𝐢𝐟𝐢𝐜

Across Asia Pacific, countries continue to navigate demographic pressures, economic uncertainty, climate risks and rapid technological change—all while striving toward . The demand for timely, country-led and policy-relevant evidence has never been greater.

As we close the year, we are reflecting on three insights that emerged across ’s publications, webinars and regional health policy and systems research engagements in 2025:

💡𝐄𝐟𝐟𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐯𝐞 𝐞𝐯𝐢𝐝𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐞 𝐦𝐮𝐬𝐭 𝐛𝐞 𝐩𝐨𝐥𝐢𝐜𝐲𝐦𝐚𝐤𝐞𝐫-𝐝𝐫𝐢𝐯𝐞𝐧 𝐭𝐨 𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐢𝐦𝐩𝐚𝐜𝐭.

💡𝐇𝐞𝐚𝐥𝐭𝐡 𝐞𝐪𝐮𝐢𝐭𝐲 𝐫𝐞𝐪𝐮𝐢𝐫𝐞𝐬 𝐟𝐢𝐧𝐚𝐧𝐜𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐜𝐨𝐨𝐫𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐝, 𝐬𝐲𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐦-𝐰𝐢𝐝𝐞 𝐫𝐞𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐦𝐬.

💡𝐇𝐞𝐚𝐥𝐭𝐡 𝐬𝐲𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐦 𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐢𝐥𝐢𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐞 𝐦𝐮𝐬𝐭 𝐛𝐞 𝐜𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐭𝐫𝐲-𝐥𝐞𝐝 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐫𝐞𝐠𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐚𝐥 𝐢𝐦𝐩𝐚𝐜𝐭.

Looking ahead, APO will deepen its work on PHC and UHC, health equity, health system resilience for climate change and pandemics, digital health and human resources for health—always grounded in country priorities and regional collaboration.