Health ministers from the World Health Organization's South-East Asia Region adopted the Dili Declaration on Tuesday, committing their countries to make specialist health care more accessible in rural, remote and underserved communities. The agreement was approved in Dili, Timor-Leste, during the 79th session of the WHO Regional Committee for South-East Asia.
The declaration addresses a persistent gap between the expansion of the region's overall health workforce and the distribution of specialized skills. WHO said specialists remain concentrated in cities, tertiary hospitals and private facilities, while poorer and geographically isolated communities often struggle to obtain essential services. Timor-Leste's prime minister had urged stronger regional cooperation on equitable access when the meeting opened on Monday, according to national news agency TATOLI.
Member countries agreed to align workforce planning, education and financing with present and future health needs. The plan calls for policies that improve the recruitment, deployment, retention and performance of specialist workers, particularly outside major urban centers. It also promotes multidisciplinary teams, task-sharing, family medicine, specialist outreach, mentoring and stronger referral systems so existing personnel can be used more effectively.
Governments also committed to expand digital health safely and under appropriate regulation. The declaration lists telemedicine, remote consultations, teleradiology, telepathology, electronic referrals and artificial-intelligence-supported clinical tools, while stressing that technology for underserved communities must not create a lower standard of care.
Priority fields include cancer, cardiovascular disease, trauma, maternal and newborn health, mental health, care for older people, rehabilitation and long-term care. Countries also plan to improve workforce information systems, implementation research and evidence used to guide investment. The agreement proposes a regional network of professional regulators and policymakers, alongside joint training, clinical mentoring, exchanges of expertise and cross-border telemedicine cooperation.
WHO said the specialist-care agenda must reinforce rather than compete with primary health care, building on the region's 2023 Delhi Declaration. The new commitment does not set binding staffing targets or a financing timetable, so its effect will depend on national implementation. Progress will ultimately be judged by whether patients facing emergencies, cancer or surgical needs can obtain quality care regardless of where they live.
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