The Association of Southeast Asian Nations is characterized
by much diversity in terms of geography, society, economic development, and
health outcomes. The health systems as well as healthcare structure and
provisions vary considerably. Consequently, the progress toward Universal
Health Coverage (UHC) in these countries also varies. The ASEAN countries have made good progress
toward UHC, partly due to relatively sustained political commitments to endorse
UHC in these countries. However, all the countries in ASEAN are facing several
common barriers to achieving UHC, namely 1) financial constraints, including
low levels of overall and government spending on health; 2) supply side
constraints, including inadequate numbers and densities of health workers; and
3) the ongoing epidemiological transition at different stages characterized by
increasing burdens of non-communicable diseases, persisting infectious
diseases, and reemergence of potentially pandemic infectious diseases. The
ASEAN Economic Community's (AEC) goal of regional economic integration and a
single market by 2015 presents both opportunities and challenges for UHC.
Healthcare services have become more available but health and healthcare
inequities will likely worsen as better-off citizens of member states might
receive more benefits from the liberalization of trade policy in health, either
via regional outmigration of health workers or intra-country health worker
movement toward private hospitals, which tend to be located in urban areas. For
ASEAN countries, UHC should be explicitly considered to mitigate deleterious
effects of economic integration. Political commitments to safeguard health
budgets and increase health spending will be necessary given liberalization's
risks to health equity as well as migration and population aging which will
increase demand on health systems. I believe that ASEAN has significant
potential to become a force for better health in the region. I hope that all
ASEAN citizens can enjoy higher health and safety standards, comprehensive
social protection, and improved health status. The Initiative for ASEAN
Integration (IAI) has been the principal response of ASEAN and its partners to
the development divide. While the four newer ASEAN members have found the IAI
projects generally useful, more could be done to make them more coherent,
subject their selection and design to greater rigour, strengthen them with
provisions for follow-through and assessment, and give the newer members a
greater sense of ownership. Honestly,
the ASEAN projects are quite useful in terms on our economy, because the
Association of Southeast Asian Nations is in the process of
creating a single market and production
base called “ASEAN ECONOMIC COMMUNITY “ which will allow the free flow of goods
, services, investments and skilled labor and the freer movement of capital
across the region . The ASEAN Economic Community helps us in our initiatives;
it increases your competitiveness, promoting equitable economic development and
also develop our strategies in life. ASEAN also helps each country to move
their economy higher. The Association of South East Asian Nations has made strides
in regional integration and cooperation, aided by unique modes of governance
privileging consensus and non-interference. However, the social dimension is in
the early stages of development and is currently detached from economic
integration initiatives. The movement of low- and unskilled workers, many of
whom are undocumented, has received especially little attention in ASEAN. Their
growing numbers underscore the importance of treating migration as integral
rather than separate from labor and general social protection issues. The
establishment of regional agreements on social protection and integration, with
particular focus on migration and labor standards, should signal the
recognition of the economic nature of migration, and help strengthen the
relevance and profile of ASEAN among the citizens of member countries. The
AEC (ASEAN Economic Community) will have major benefits for the Philippines.
However, to maximize these benefits, the government must take decisive actions
now, especially in terms of labor and employment as too many workers are still
in poor quality jobs . Under the planned regional integration, the AEC will set
in motion the creation of a single market spanning the 10-nation bloc that
includes Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, Philippines,
Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam. The integration would result in a freer flow
of goods, services, investment and skilled labor coming from AEC at remarkably
lower tariffs. The study found that ASEAN integration could lead to about 60 percent
increased demand for high-skilled employment positions such as managers,
professionals, technicians and associate professionals. the Asian Development
Bank and the International Labour Organization examines the impact of the ASEAN
Economic Community on labor. It highlights the challenges and
opportunities that will accompany the AEC, including managing labor migration,
boosting productivity and wages, and improving job quality. the full potential of
the AEC to deliver more and better jobs, decisive action is necessary,
including better management of structural change, ensuring that economic gains
lead to shared prosperity, while strengthening regional cooperation and
tripartite dialogue. Ultimately, the success of ASEAN regional integration will
depend on how it affects the labor market and therefore how it improves the
quality of life of women and men in the region. But I think ASEAN is still far
from being economically integrated as a region and there is a little prospect
that it will be fully integrated as envisioned in the near future.