The Marco Polo Hotel, Davao City
July 25, 2018

President Rodrigo Roa Duterte spoke before the delegates of the Asia-Pacific Healthy Islands Conference 2018: Networking for Resilient Island Health Systems at The Marco Polo Hotel in Davao City.

The three-day cross-country conference from July 25-27, 2018 intended to strengthen networks, forge a common agenda, and promote resilient island health systems through design and technology driven solutions.

The Asia-Pacific region has thousands of small island communities that are marginalized because of their size and geographic location.

In his message, President Duterte emphasized that the conference would enable countries in the Asia-Pacific to explore practical solutions to solve shared health problems and overcome common challenges in delivering essential medical services to the people.

“Indeed, the distance between us may be vast but if we work together, we can bridge this gap and build a network of cooperation and collaboration. After all, to what end did we make our advancements in medicine, logistics, science and technology, of what use would it be if we cannot use them to help our fellowmen and utilize the resources to enhance our shared humanity,” President Duterte said.

The event was organized by Department of Health (DOH) Secretary Francisco Duque III in collaboration with Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) Secretary Alan Peter Cayetano and Climate Change Commission (CCC) Secretary Emmanuel De Guzman.

Health Ministers from the Republic of Fiji, Republic of Kiribati, Republic of Marshall Islands, the Federated States of Micronesia, Republic of Nauru, Republic of Palau, Independent State of Papua New Guinea, and Tuvalu, as well as the members of the diplomatic corps and representatives from the national government agencies attended the event.

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