On 19 July 2022, H.E. Mr. Don Pramudwinai, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs of Thailand, attended the virtual COVID-19 Global Action Plan (GAP) Ministerial Meeting, together with ministers from more than 20 countries and relevant international organizations, following the invitation of H.E. Mr. Hiyashi Yoshimasa, Minister for Foreign Affairs of Japan, and H.E. Mr. Antony J. Blinken, U.S. Secretary of State.

This meeting is a follow-up to the 1st and 2nd Global COVID-19 Summits held on 22 September 2021 and 12 May 2022, in which the Prime Minister together with DPM/FM participated, as well as the GAP Senior Official Meeting held on 15 June 2022. The US aims to use the GAP initiative to maintain the dynamics of the dialogue process between allies and international organizations involved in efforts to end the pandemic, and to strengthen the readiness of health systems to cope with future outbreaks.

On this occasion, DPM/FM reiterated Thailand's commitment to work with the international community to end the pandemic soonest by implementing measures based on the whole-of-government and whole-of-society approaches to ensure comprehensive responses to the pandemic and reduce pressure on stretched health systems, and engage communities to help mitigate from COVID-19, both physical and psychological, on the populations, including the vulnerable.

In addition, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs made three suggestions as longer-term priorities for the international community, namely (1) strengthening preparedness capacity of health systems through progressive realization of the Universal Health Coverage (UHC), improving public health competency and availability of health workforces in low and middle-income countries; (2) ensuring sustainable and equitable access to medical countermeasures, while focusing on increasing global manufacturing capacities of medical countermeasures in developing countries and strengthening supply chain resilience, which would help tackle a surge in domestic and global demands; and (3) investing in training and capacity building of healthcare workers at home, in the region and at the global level, including through Thailand’s development cooperation with neighbouring countries on issues such as management and strengthening health infrastructure to disease-specific prevention and control.

Thailand is one of the countries invited to join the GAP movement, with allied countries on global health and relevant international organizations, aiming to end the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic and push forward for progress in the preparedness of health systems for future outbreaks in a sustainable manner. In this regard, Thailand has joined Line of Efforts (LOE) 4: Support Health Care Workers under the GAP initiative. The discussion on the commitment for implementation of such initiative will continue at a high-level meeting expected to be held during the 77th session of the United Nations General Assembly in September.