Dr. Jaime C. Montoya, Executive Director of the Philippine Council for Health Research and Development of the Department of Science and Technology (PCHRD-DOST), discussed the importance of building and sustaining a regional network for health research and innovation in Southeast Asia at the 12th Taro Takemi Memorial Oration at the Marriott Hotel, Pasay City on October 2014.

The Oration is held every two years since 1990 to honor the late Dr. Taro Takemi, former President of Confederation of Medical Associations in Asia and Oceania (CMAAO) and the Japan Medical Association, for his contributions to the Confederation and his achievements in global health care as a physician, researcher, and inventor.

The first Filipino to deliver the Oration, Dr. Montoya talked about the network established between member states of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) to address the escalating cost of and poor access to modern medicine in the region. Officially known as the ASEAN – Network for Drugs, Diagnostics, Vaccines, and Traditional Medicine Innovation (ASEAN-NDI), the network supports health research on emerging and the re-emerging health concerns in Southeast Asia.

Dr. Montoya explained that difference in economic capacity affects the health systems and programs among ASEAN member states. Linking wealth to health status, Dr. Montoya said that poorer nations suffer more from communicable and non-communicable diseases. Through ASEAN-NDI, ASEAN member states enhance their research capacity, minimize duplication of work for the same diseases and products, and address concerns regarding lack of infrastructure and resources, sharing of expertise, and intellectual property  by implementing and facilitating  working arrangements between ASEAN states and the international community.

Dr. Montoya said that the establishment of a Southeast Asian center for fundamental and translational research is one way to address global threats of infectious and tropical diseases.  As a catalyst of regional and global research collaborations, he stressed that the ASEAN-NDI will be significant in finding solutions to emerging and re-emerging health concerns worldwide.

The 12th Taro Takemi Memorial Oration was hosted by the Philippine Medical Association (PMA) in line with the 29th General Assembly and 50th Council Meeting of CMAAO.