The Project for Strengthening the ASEAN Regional Capacity on Disaster Health Management (ARCH Project) developed Regional Collaboration Drills (RCDs) and is proposing an ASEAN Academic Network to strengthen capacity in disaster health management (DHM) in ASEAN Member States (AMS), as well as developing a standard training curriculum in DHM. This study aims to clarify the impacts and sustainability of the ARCH Project.

The four previous RCDs and the enhancement of academic activities were reviewed.

The ARCH Project developed the RCDs with simulation exercises based on possible disaster scenarios in each host country to test and validate the capacity of AMS International Emergency Medical Teams (I-EMTs), the Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) for I-EMT coordination, and regional tools, as well as the relevant domestic SOPs of the host countries for receiving international assistance. Following the RCD in Thailand, three AMS: Viet Nam, Philippines, and Indonesia, all of which are considered disaster-prone, successfully hosted RCDs with significant improvements. The project also established a sub-working group (SWG) to develop a standard curriculum in DHM. Two curricula developments, the Basic Course on DHM and In-Country Course for Coordination on EMTs, are on-going as part of the project activity. The establishment of the ASEAN Academic Network and the ASEAN Institute for DHM (AIDHM) are currently in the endorsement process of the ASEAN health sector.

The RCDs are very effective to test and to validate the SOP and regional tools developed, providing opportunities for AMS I-EMT to familiarize the tools, as well as for host countries to assess their coordination capacity for receiving international assistance and identifying the country’s specific challenges, and verifying ASEAN regional coordination mechanism. The development of the standard curriculum can enhance regional capacity both in supporting disaster-affected countries and in receiving international assistance. A sustainable capacity development mechanism in DHM is envisaged through the establishment of the ASEAN Academic Network and AIDHM toward the goal of One ASEAN One Response.

This report tries to capture the impact of the Project for Strengthening the ASEAN Regional Capacity on Disaster Health Management (ARCH Project) in each ASEAN Member State (AMS) and Japan as a result of the ARCH Project implementation since July 2016.

Impact on AMS: The analysis of the impact on AMS was based on a comparison of the impact of the project on management and coordination of Emergency Medical Teams (EMTs), and application of the project outcome in actual emergency operations compared to the previous status in each AMS.

Impact on Japan: The history of the development of disaster medicine in Japan was reviewed, with an aim to analyze the impact of supporting AMS through the ARCH Project on Japan, and the possibility of bi-directional cooperation in the future.

Impact on AMS: Since the initiation of the ARCH Project, AMS has made significant progress in WHO EMT accreditation, strengthening EMTCC capacity for receiving international assistance, as well as the development of legislation or strategic plans related to DHM, and application of the Project products such as standard operating procedures or regional tools in actual disasters/emergencies.

Impact on Japan: Disaster medicine in Japan originated from the Cambodian refugees’ relief mission in 1979. Since then, the management system has been strengthened including the foundation of the Japan Disaster Relief (JDR) Team, a structure with a legal foundation. The experience gained through international operations has contributed to the development of Japan’s domestic disaster response system. Japan learned the operational effectiveness of the post-disaster health surveillance system through the disaster response operation in 2013 Typhoon Yolanda Disaster in Philippines and introduced a modified system in Japan for domestic disaster response, which was later refined and proposed for an international standard.

ARCH Project is highly appreciated by AMS as the opportunity to share knowledge and experience among countries and thereby contributing to achieving the “One ASEAN, One Response” concept, as well as the driving force for each AMS to develop its capacity in DHM. While the ARCH Project started to support AMS to strengthen its regional capacity in disaster health management, it is important to build a bi-directional relationship between ASEAN and Japan in terms of mutual learning and support to tackle future disasters.

This paper aims to clarify how the Project for Strengthening the ASEAN Regional Capacity on Disaster Health Management (ARCH Project) strengthened regional collaboration mechanisms on disaster health management (DHM) in ASEAN.

The political process and the relevant documents of the ARCH Project were reviewed.

The ARCH Project established the Regional Coordination Committee as a coordination platform for providing strategic direction to the project and strengthening the regional coordination of DHM. Also, the Project Working Groups and Sub-Working Groups were set up as implementation bodies for the project activities with representatives of ASEAN Member States (AMS). With support from DHM experts of Japan and Thailand, a series of discussions were conducted for the development of a Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) for the Coordination of International Emergency Medical Teams (I-EMTs), regional tools, and collective measures supporting AMS to overcome challenges, and thereby meeting the minimum requirements set by the WHO EMT Initiative. The progress and outputs of the ARCH Project are subsequently elevated to the ASEAN Health Sector for endorsement, the updates are further shared to the Joint Task Force to Promote Synergy with Other Relevant ASEAN Bodies on Humanitarian Assistance and Disaster Relief (JTF-HADR) for the implementation of the ASEAN Declaration on One ASEAN One Response. The initiation of the ARCH Project in July 2016 has resulted in the development of the ASEAN regional collaboration framework, including the establishment of the Regional Coordination Committee on Disaster Health Management (RCCDHM), the SOP for ASEAN I-EMT coordination, and regional tools, such as forms for Medical Record for Emergency and Disaster and Health Needs Assessment. Moreover, further discussions on ASEAN Collective Measures that aim to support AMS to meet the WHO EMT minimum standards and strengthening I-EMT coordination capacity were also conducted. As adopted by the ASEAN Health Ministers Meeting (AHMM) in 2019, the RCCDHM was established as one of the mechanisms to operationalize the Plan of Action to implement the ASEAN Leaders’ Declaration on DHM.

The contribution of the ARCH Project to strengthen the ASEAN regional capacity in DHM has enhanced the regional coordination platform, with a formalization of RCCDHM as ASEAN’s official regional mechanism, and of the on-going integration process of the SOP for EMT coordination into the ASEAN SASOP.

The Minimum Data Set (MDS) developed by the World Health Organization (WHO) has been widely used among medical practitioners in International Emergency Medical Team (I-EMT) as tools to collect health information and statistics in disaster health management. The I-EMT submits MDS to the Emergency Medical Team Coordination Cell (EMTCC) for the planning of responses. The Project for Strengthening the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) Regional Capacity on Disaster Health Management (ARCH Project) is the ASEAN’s project that has applied MDS to its activities with the main purpose of strengthening informational management during a disaster.

The study aims to evaluate the performance of MDS after being utilized in the Regional Collaboration Drill (RCD) organized by the ARCH Project in July 2017.

The performance of MDS has been evaluated by ten International Emergency Medical Team (I-EMT) of ASEAN Member States who participated in the RCD.

The assessment forms were returned by ten I-EMTs, and all respondents addressed several points for the revision of MDS (10/10), including the format and the content of the MDS. Concerning the format, respondents stated that the fonts are too small (3/10), and spaces for recording additional information are needed (3/10). On the other hand, the majority of respondents suggested that some of the contents within the MDS are still unclear or some terminologies are needed to be further clarified (6/10), especially with the referral form (5/10).

The current version of the MDS utilized for the EMT coordination should be edited and revised for its optimal usage. Applying MDS to disaster simulation is an efficient approach to test its application.