Recommendation: Boao Initiative of the 2025 Asia Pacific Congress on Public Health

Against the backdrop of a reshaping world order and profound transformation of the global health governance system in the post-pandemic era, the Asia-Pacific region, as one of the world’s most densely populated and diverse areas in development, faces unprecedented public health challenges. To address this, the 2025 Asia Pacific Congress on Public Health (APCPH) was convened in Boao, Hainan Province of the People’s Republic of China.

The Chinese Preventive Medicine Association (CPMA), in collaboration with the World Federation of Public Health Associations (WFPHA), the Public Health Association of New Zealand (PHANZ), the American Public Health Association (APHA), the Japan Public Health Association (JPHA), the Public Health Association of Australia (PHAA), the Vietnam Public Health Association (VPHA), and the Asia Pacific Alliance for the Control of Influenza (APACI), brought together global strategic leaders, policymakers, and academic authorities to discuss the future challenges and further collaborative action plan. Centered on the three core themes of “equity, resilience, and innovation,” we build transnational consensus and jointly issue the following initiative:

System coordination is sluggish, resulting in inefficient cross-border emergency response and resource integration, with the threat of cross-border transmission of infectious diseases being particularly pronounced.

Vulnerable groups face systemic barriers in universal health coverage (UHC), equitable access to vaccines, chronic disease management, and mental health services. Urban-rural and regional disparities are expanding, and the health needs of children, adolescents, and the elderly are especially urgent.

Frequent extreme weather events pose a comprehensive impact on public health and healthcare systems by altering vector distribution, exacerbating air pollution, and threatening nutrition and food security through multiple pathways.

Imbalances in regional information infrastructure, inadequate data governance mechanisms, and insufficient privacy protection capabilities severely limit the widespread adoption and application of innovative technologies such as artificial intelligence (AI) and telemedicine.

To systematically address the aforementioned challenges, we advocate for the implementation of a comprehensive “Four-in-One” action plan:

Establish efficient cross-border infectious disease surveillance and early warning systems, focusing on enhancing joint prevention and control capabilities for acute respiratory infectious diseases like influenza. Strengthen cooperation in controlling vector-borne diseases and jointly safeguard regional biosafety. Strictly maintain the bottom line of food safety and advocate for balanced nutritional diets to ensure the “safety and well-being on people’s tables.” Vigorously promote the deep integration of medical and preventive services to solidify the grassroots “health gatekeeper” system.

Fully integrate chronic disease and mental health services into the basic public health service package. Promote the concept of active health for frail older adults to delay the decline of their intrinsic capacity. Drive the integration of comprehensive geriatric assessment into clinical practice to enhance the personalization of elder care. Optimize care models for vulnerable groups, such as those with disabilities or cognitive impairment, and deepen the integration of medical and elderly care services. Strengthen high-impact, cost-effective public health interventions, including tobacco control, oral health, mental health, and vaccination. Integrate Indigenous health services into community-led health systems to achieve equitable, localized, and sustainable public health outcomes.

Establish climate-health risk assessment mechanisms. Promote climate-appropriate health technologies. Accelerate the construction of climate-resilient health facilities and living environments to improve the core capacity of health systems to respond to extreme weather events.

Develop regionally unified digital health ethics and data standards. Create multi-lingual, low-cost mobile health (mHealth) tools. Establish a regional validation and promotion mechanism for AI-assisted diagnostic technologies. Ensure that technological innovation is universally shared and does not exacerbate existing health inequalities.

The Initiative systematically integrates comprehensive public health issues in the Asia-Pacific, from infectious to chronic diseases and mental health, from clinical medicine to health promotion, and from traditional threats to emerging challenges, while innovatively proposing the “Four-in-One” collaborative action path.

The Congress calls upon regional public health associations, international organizations, academia, industry, and civil society to strengthen collaboration to jointly push global health governance toward a more efficient and equitable direction, and to promote the reform and reinforcement of public health governance systems at national and regional levels. In the short term, initiate the construction of a regional health emergency network and climate-health assessment through transnational and cross-sectoral cooperation; In the long term, deeply integrate digital intelligence technology with regional collaborative governance mechanisms to continuously enhance the resilience and effectiveness of public health systems and health governance.

We firmly believe that “equity, resilience, and innovation” are the core visions guiding the future of public health. The Asia-Pacific region must work hand in hand to jointly build a more comprehensive, inclusive, and sustainable public health system, making a more solid and profound contribution to the health and well-being of the region’s people and to global health governance.

This initiative is prepared by:

Xiaonong Zhou

1. National Institute of Parasitic Diseases, Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention (Chinese Center for Tropical Diseases Research); NHC Key Laboratory of Parasite and Vector Biology; WHO Collaborating Centre for Tropical Diseases; National Center for International Research on Tropical Diseases, Ministry of Science and Technology, Shanghai, China;

2. School of Global Health, Chinese Center for Tropical Diseases Research, Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine, Shanghai, China.

Minghui Ren

3. China Centre for Health Development Studies, Peking University, Beijing, China;

4. Department of Global Health, School of Public Health, Peking University, Beijing, China.

November 29, 2025

Boao, Hainan Province of the People’s Republic of China