ASEAN Plus Three puts health data interoperability and digital technology at centre of regional health agenda

ASEAN and its Plus Three partners have identified digital health, big-data analytics and interoperable health information systems as priorities for strengthening regional health systems over the next two years.

The commitments were set out in the Joint Statement of the 11th ASEAN Plus Three Health Ministers Meeting, held in Kuala Lumpur on 10 September, as health ministers from ASEAN, China, Japan and South Korea outlined areas for deeper cooperation in 2027 and 2028.

The statement calls for the development and utilisation of “interoperable and secure” health information and knowledge-management systems, alongside greater use of digital health technology, public-health intelligence, research and innovation.

The measures form part of a broader effort to build more resilient and connected health systems across the region under the newly adopted ASEAN Strategic Health Agenda (ASHA) 2026-2030.

Big-data analytics for disease surveillance is specifically identified among the region’s health priorities, alongside infectious disease control, One Health, antimicrobial resistance, vaccines and diagnostics security.

The emphasis reflects the growing importance of data infrastructure in regional health security, particularly where disease surveillance and emergency response require information to move across national and institutional boundaries.

The ministers also committed to strengthening cooperation around public-health emergencies and disaster health management, with frameworks, systems and procedures intended to become more integrated, coordinated and interoperable.

The statement references a number of regional mechanisms and networks, including the ASEAN Emergency Operations Centre Network for Public Health Emergencies, the ASEAN Biological Threats Surveillance Centre and the ASEAN Plus Three Field Epidemiology Training Network.

The focus on interoperability is significant because the statement goes beyond the adoption of individual digital-health technologies.

ASEAN Plus Three countries are being encouraged to develop systems that can securely exchange and use health-related information across different settings, while also improving access to health knowledge and information.

The statement does not specify a common regional health-record platform or prescribe particular technical standards. It instead establishes interoperability and secure information management as areas for cooperation.

That leaves implementation largely to future regional projects and national health systems, but creates a policy framework for collaboration around digital infrastructure, data exchange and public-health intelligence.

Technology is also relevant to the statement’s One Health agenda, which seeks closer coordination between human, animal, plant and environmental health.

The ministers committed to strengthening implementation of the ASEAN One Health Joint Plan of Action 2025-2030 through the ASEAN One Health Network.

The approach covers areas including antimicrobial resistance, food safety and climate change, where effective surveillance increasingly depends on bringing together information from different sectors.

This could create demand for more integrated data systems capable of supporting surveillance across human and non-human health, although the statement does not specify particular technologies or platforms.

Digital technology is one element of a much wider agenda covering universal health coverage, primary healthcare, health-workforce development, healthy ageing, nutrition, mental health, vaccines and diagnostics.

The statement also calls for the use of advanced technologies in health-workforce training, alongside knowledge sharing and technical exchanges.

Meanwhile, the ASEAN Centre for Active Ageing and Innovation is expected to support research, development and innovation around healthy and active ageing, including integrated care and geriatric services.

The ministers said the next phase of ASEAN Plus Three health cooperation would focus on “Synchronising Health Systems: Scaling-Up Innovation and Longevity Across ASEAN Plus Three”.

For the technology sector, the statement points towards a regional health agenda increasingly centred on connected data, digital health infrastructure, surveillance and interoperability.

However, the document stops short of announcing specific technology deployments, AI programmes or common digital-health standards. The practical impact will depend on how these priorities are translated into regional projects and national implementation over the coming years.