On 27 September 2024, Ms. Pinsuda Jayanama, Director-General of the Department of International Organizations, attended the first Foreign Ministry Channel for Global Health Security (FMC GHS) Ministerial Meeting, hosted by the U.S. and chaired by the Honorable Anthony Blinken, U.S. Secretary of State.

The FMC GHS member countries and international organizations exchanged views on important global health security issues, including the Mpox situation, the ongoing negotiations of the Pandemic Treaty, the support needed for the Pandemic Fund, the polio vaccination campaign for children in Gaza under humanitarian ceasefire, climate change and its effects on health security, and antimicrobial resistance (AMR).

On this occasion, the Director-General shared Thailand’s views on the importance of coordination between foreign ministries to advance global health security, the need to strengthen early warning capabilities and the enhancement of technical knowledge on global health security the diplomatic workforce, as well as the commitment to strengthening the global health security architecture and governance. The Director-General also informed of Thailand’s support to many African countries on capacity building programs through Thailand International Cooperation Agency’s (TICA), particularly on the topic of Universal Health Coverage (UHC).

The meeting was attended by high-level representatives from 20 countries and international organizations: Canada, Finland, Morocco, Norway, Republic of Korea, Australian, Bangladesh, Germany, Spain, United Kingdom, France, Japan, Thailand, United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, Sweden and India as well as the European Union, Africa Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the World Health Organization (WHO). The WHO Director-General, Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, also attended the meeting.

The FMC GHS is an initiative launched by the U.S. in March 2024 to promote health diplomacy in moving forward important global health agenda and enhance cooperation to upgrade the prevention, detection, and response to global health security threats.