The Supporting Enhanced COVID-19 Vaccination and Post-COVID-19 Health Security Response in Southeast Asia (SECURE) technical facility had been established to support various aspects of vaccination and other COVID-related programs including logistics, regulation, contingency planning, information systems, and regional health security. Under this facility, a book project was launched to compile the lessons learned from ADB’s regional partnerships with seven DMCs: Cambodia, Indonesia, Lao DPR, Philippines, Thailand, Timor Leste, and Vietnam. The book was comprised of five chapters, each tackling a different aspect of vaccination programs that had proven to be decisive in shaping the successes and challenges faced by the DMCs. Specifically, these chapters discussed: 1) the implementation of vaccination programs, 2) vaccine hesitancy and related communication efforts, 3) the digitization of vaccine information systems, 4) pharmacovigilance and vaccine safety, and 5) the roles of public-private partnerships in vaccination programs. Additionally, the book included interviews with high-ranking ministers and health officials who had been critical to state-led efforts during the pandemic in Southeast Asia. While by no means comprehensive, this book nonetheless provided contemporary and grounded accounts of public health that conversed with other such efforts in the region and beyond.

In relation to the book’s forthcoming publication, a webinar was conducted on 8 December 2023.

While the webinar was designed to herald the publication of the SECURE book project, it also laid the groundwork for future avenues of discussion and deliberation. As a gathering of medical and public health professionals, researchers, policymakers, community leaders and government officials, and individuals who worked across various healthcare settings, it fostered discussions on best practices, as well as ways of improving vaccinations and vaccination programs, public health campaigns, and health policymaking in general. In other words, it was an opportunity to look beyond the current pandemic by serving as a platform to discuss the future of healthcare across the region. In this way, it helped identify the gaps in health research, governance, policy, advocacy, and program implementation, all of which would be necessary for national and regional responses to future pandemics and other health crises.