KUALA LUMPUR: To ensure smooth and safe cross-border travel, Asean's health ministers yesterday have agreed with the Mutual Recognition of Covid-19 Vaccination Certificates.
Deputy Health Minister Datuk Aaron Ago Dagang in a statement today said the matter was agreed upon during a special discussion session of the 15th Asean Health Ministers' Meeting (15th AHMM).
He said the recognition will be implemented using the Asean Universal Verification Mechanism or other mechanisms that have been developed based on the technical specifications of the World Health Organisation (WHO).
"It aims to facilitate the verification of Covid-19 vaccination certificates issued by each Asean member country," said Aaron, who led the Malaysian delegation to the 15th AHMM held in Bali, Indonesia from May 11 until today.
In the same statement, Aaron said Malaysia appreciates Indonesia's efforts to take the initiative to lead the development of the Asean Universal Verification Mechanism.
"Malaysia is of the view that this voluntary system has high potential to support Asean member countries that do not yet have the Covid-19 vaccination certificate verification system.
"It is important to ensure a smooth opening of the borders to further accelerate the process of Asean's recovery from Covid-19."
He added Malaysia has also expressed its readiness to continue working with Asean member countries in implementing Mutual Recognition of Covid-19 Vaccination, to ensure the development of a healthier and safer Asean region, besides ensuring the survival of the people.
Meanwhile, during the 15th AHMM main agenda discussion, Aaron said Malaysia took the opportunity to highlight the efforts to strengthen the resilience of the country's health and rehabilitation system towards the post-Covid-19 pandemic, including the development of digital technology to ensure continued access to health services such as virtual clinics and online appointment system.
Aaron added, that using the Asean Health Sector platform, Malaysia has collaborated with other member countries to increase genome sequencing capacity as well as exchange technical and clinical information related to Covid-19.
"This cooperation is implemented through existing Asean mechanisms such as the Asean Emergency Operation Center (EOC) Network and Asean Risk Assessment and Risk Communication (ARARC), which is led by Malaysia.
"Malaysia will also lead the Project for Strengthening Laboratory Capacity on Covid-19 Bio Genomic for Asean Countries, which is one of the projects under the Strengthening Regional Initiatives in Asean on Covid-19 Response and other Public Health Initiatives.
"This project will focus on technical aspects in the implementation of the Covid-19 whole-genome sequencing (WGS), viral mutation detection, the construction of Covid-19 phylogenetic tree as well as genome analysis and Covid-19 surveillance system.
"This initiative is expected to drive Asean in its recovery from Covid-19."