Past Event​

Following the 2nd Asia-Pacific Patients Congress (APPC) held in December 2020, before the second and third waves of the COVID-19 hit the region, as we anticipated, the pandemic was not yet over and the first wave had exposed massive fault lines in our health systems that needed to be strengthened. 

The early gains made by the region in controlling COVID-19 through face covering, isolation, test/track and the roll-out of vaccination programs were soon undermined by the COVID-19 Delta variant. We once again witnessed health systems stretched resulting in healthcare delivery that lacked compassion which unfortunately led to a mass loss of trust in health systems. 

It is in this framework that the International Alliance of Patient Organizations (IAPO), the Philippine Alliance of Patient Organizations (PAPO) and SingHealth Duke-NUS Academic Medical Center convened the 3rd APPC held virtually on 16 - 17 November 2021. With the theme “Recovering together through compassion, insight and co-creation” the congress brought together the region’s expert patients with a variety of high-level healthcare stakeholders to share their vision and experience on the recovery of health systems as we explored how we can all collaborate in building back better.

APPC 2021 was joined by distinguished speakers from major patient organizations, healthcare institutions, World Health Organization Western Pacific Region and Southeast Asia Region, our member organizations, affiliated partners’ networks, regulators and HTA bodies to share their knowledge and expertise on how we can all collaborate in building back better:

• Fr. Jerry Orbos, Divine Word Missionary & Cancer Survivor
• Prof Tan Kok Hian, Group Director & Senior Associate Dean, SingHealth Duke-NUS IPSQ
• Fatima Lorenzo, President, Philippine Alliance of Patient Organisations
• Dr Aparna Singh Shah, WHO SEARO Regional Advisor
• Prof Lee Chien Earn, Deputy Group Chief Executive Officer (Regional Health System), SingHealth
• Leanne Wells, CEO, Consumers Health Forum of Australia
• Dr. Jimmy Montoya, Executive Director, Philippine Council for Health Research & Development
• Dr Saumya Shekhar Jamuar, Head, SingHealth Duke-NUS Genomics Medicine Centre
• Dr Shekhar Potkar, Regional Chief Medical Officer, Emerging Markets & Head, Global NCD Excellence, Viatris
• Laurie Myers, Director for Global Health Literacy & Oncology Health Equity, MSD

Asia-Pacific Patient Advocacy Consensus for Patient Safety
Global Patient Safety Action Plan (GPSAP) on Patient and Family Engagement Co-Creation Consensus Workshop

The co-organizers of the APPC 2021, SingHealth Duke-NUS Institute for Patient Safety & Quality (IPSQ), International Alliance of Patients’ Organizations (IAPO), Philippine Alliance of Patient Organization (PAPO) and Patient Academy for Innovation & Research (PAIR), worked together with various stakeholders to craft and lead a virtual Asia-Pacific Patient Advocacy Consensus for Patient Safety Workshop, supported by 18 facilitators from Asia-Pacific region, to support GPSAP Strategic Objective 4 which advocates for engaging and empowering patients and families to help and support the journey to safer health care.

Click to download the Consensus Workshop Report 

This consensus can serve as a guide for all, especially patient advocates, patient organizations and healthcare organizations in Asia Pacific region to reference and explore the strategies in strengthening patient and family engagement in eliminating avoidable harm in healthcare.