Chair, Excellencies, Hon’ble Ministers, distinguished delegates, colleagues and friends,
Four days ago, as we opened this Seventy-ninth Session of the Regional Committee, I suggested a simple standard by which our work should be judged: that resolutions must become action; actions must deliver results; and those results must be shared equitably.
As we close RC79 today, we have taken an important first step.
We leave Dili with a strong set of commitments that reflect both the challenges our Region faces today and the health systems we want to build for tomorrow.
Through the Dili Declaration, we have committed to advancing equity in access to specialized care – ensuring that our progress in strengthening the health workforce translates into better care for people, wherever they live.
We have committed to safer care and blood safety, more sustainable financing for health, and renewed action to end TB in the world’s most TB-affected Region. And we have extended our regional action on viral hepatitis, HIV and sexually transmitted infections to 2030, sustaining momentum towards eliminating these diseases as public health threats.
We have agreed to expand equitable access to quality-assured medical devices, diagnostics and assistive technologies; to make our health facilities safer, more sustainable and more resilient to climate change and emergencies; and to strengthen vaccine confidence and uptake.
And through SEA-DAC, we have created a new Member State-led platform for cooperation on digital health and artificial intelligence – harnessing innovation while keeping equity, trust and better health at its centre.
But this week has not only been about commitments for the future. It has also been an opportunity to celebrate what Member States have already achieved.
We celebrated Timor-Leste’s elimination of trachoma as a public health problem and Bhutan becoming the first country in the Region to eliminate dog-mediated human rabies.
We recognized Thailand for the verification of rubella elimination; nine Member States for sustaining the elimination of maternal and neonatal tetanus for a decade; and Sri Lanka for a decade of malaria-free status.
We celebrated Bangladesh for reaching the Ending Preventable Maternal Mortality target ahead of 2030; Bhutan and the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea for their sustained commitment to newborn and child survival; and Maldives for becoming the first and only country in our Region to meet the SDG target on premature mortality from NCDs.
And we recognized Bhutan, India, Thailand and Timor-Leste for progress towards the SEA-HEARTS commitments.
My congratulations to all.
We also honored three remarkable Public Health Champions: Dr Nittaya Phanuphak of Thailand, for advancing equitable HIV prevention and service delivery; Dr K. Suresh Kumar of India, for pioneering a community-owned model of palliative care that has travelled far beyond its origins; and Nepal Netra Jyoti Sangh, for its contribution to reducing avoidable blindness in Nepal.
Their achievements – and those of the Member States we have celebrated this week – remind us of what sustained leadership, partnership and commitment can deliver.
These are the results we spoke of when we opened this Committee – and they demonstrate why the decisions we have taken here matter.
As we leave Dili, our task is to turn the commitments made here into action – and action into results.
That means translating these commitments into national priorities, policies and investments.
It means measuring whether these commitments are making services safer, health workers better supported, technologies more accessible, and health systems more resilient.
And ultimately, it means asking whether they are improving people's lives.
Over the past four days, we have also been reminded of one of this Region’s greatest strengths: how much we can learn from one another.
Our countries are diverse. Our challenges and circumstances differ. There is no single pathway to universal health coverage or better health. But throughout this Committee, Member States have shared experiences, innovations and solutions that others can adapt and build upon.
That is regional cooperation at its best – turning the experience of one country into an opportunity for many.
Excellencies,
Let me close by expressing my sincere appreciation to the Government and people of the Democratic Republic of Timor-Leste for their extraordinary warmth and hospitality, and for hosting us once again here in Dili.
My particular thanks to His Excellency Mr Kay Rala Xanana Gusmão, Prime Minister of the Democratic Republic of Timor-Leste, for addressing the inaugural session, and for honouring us with his presence and remarks again this morning.
My thanks also to our Member States and delegations, to the Director-General Dr Tedros, to our partners and civil society organizations, and to colleagues across from WHO, who have made this Regional Committee possible.
Next year, we meet in Maldives for the Eightieth Session of the Regional Committee.
When we do, our measure of success should not simply be the decisions we took here in Dili, but what changed because of them.
We arrived with questions.
We leave with commitments.
Now, we must turn those commitments into action – and action into better health for every person, in every community across our Region.
Thank you, and I wish you all a safe journey home.