They addressed a variety of health concerns, including tobacco and alcohol control and communicable and non-communicable diseases.
There was concern that warning labels on cigarette packets, including graphic illustrations of smoking-related illnesses, were not having the desired effect of deterring young people.
Some officials pointed out that smokers tend to ignore the warnings, and the tobacco industry continues to recruit new smokers.
In addition, people who have never smoked can still contract smoking-related diseases such as cancer, respiratory and cardiovascular problems from inhaling second-hand smoke.
Nevertheless, the meeting felt that all countries in the region should put graphic pictures on cigarettes.
The Asean officials agreed to build on the Field Epidemiology Training Network (FETN) formed two years ago to share knowledge on health matters. (Epidemiology is the study of the distribution and patterns of health-events, health-characteristics and their causes or influences in well-defined populations.)
Information from the FETN is being used in particular to help control HIV, malaria and dengue fever.
There are no vaccines to prevent these three diseases. Instead, officials argued, health workers need to be trained to help people understand how to avoid getting the diseases in the first place, through practicing safe sex in the case of HIV, and through preventing mosquitoes from breeding; mosquitoes carry both malaria and dengue fever.
Health workers should also educate communities to understand that if they contract any of these three diseases, they should get treatment early.
The meetings also set ambitious targets on HIV referred to as the “Three Zeroes”: no HIV patients without treatment, no deaths from HIV/Aids and no new HIV infections.
Asean Secretary General Surin Pitsuwan also urged health authorities to be aware of the possibility of chnges in lifestyle-induced illnesses such as high blood pressure and diabetes that may come as a result of growing wealth once the Asean Economic Community becomes reality three years from now.