Mr. President,

Excellencies,

Distinguished Delegates,

1. The Lao PDR commends the President of the General Assembly for convening this meeting on Fostering a multilateral and intergenerational approach through equity and solidarity.
2. Situated at the heart of the Mekong Sub-region bordering five countries, Lao PDR recognizes that health security is deeply interconnected. Emerging re-emerging infectious disease do not respect borders. COVID-19 proved that global health security remains fragile while severe inequities persist in access to medical countermeasures, financing, and technical capacities.
3. For too long, our region has responded to emergencies only once they arrived. That was never our ambition. The Pandemic Fund has shown a better way: turning the hard lessons of a crisis into lasting investment in stronger, safer systems that protect our people. But the needs are growing faster than the resources, and too often, financing still arrives after the crisis.
4. We urge three actions:
   
   • First, Operationalize Equity: Guarantee timely, affordable access to vaccines, diagnostics, and therapeutics for developing nations.
   • Second, Ensure Predictable Financing: Transition from reactive crisis spending to long-term capacity building as a global public good.
   • Third, Implement One Health: Strengthen collaboration across human, animal, and environmental sectors to stop spillovers at the source.

Mr. President,

5. Just as the Mekong unites our region, our health security relies on every nation along the chain and across ASEAN. Lao PDR reaffirms its commitment to this Political Declaration and looks forward to its full implementation.

I thank you.