The founding ceremony of Myanmar Global Health Practice Base of Peking University School of Public Health was held in Yangon, Myanmar, on November 9, 2018. Zhang Jun, Regional Director of Health Poverty Action (HPA) in East Asia, Zhan Siyan, Deputy Secretary of the Party Committee of Peking University School of Public Health, Zheng Zhijie, Director of the Department of Global Health, and representatives of Peking University, HPA Office in Myanmar and local non-governmental organizations in Myanmar attended the opening ceremony.

Zhan Siyan, Deputy Secretary of the Party Committee of the Peking University School of Public Health, made an address that since the establishment of diplomatic relations 68 years ago, China Myanmar cooperation in various fields has been developing steadily for a long time, and the "Paukphaw" (fraternal) friendship between China and Myanmar has a long history. Health is one of the significant tasks of China Myanmar cooperation. Since the 1990s, China and Myanmar have carried out cooperation and exchanges on joint prevention and control of infectious diseases at the border between China and Myanmar, and on the recovery surgery and volunteer medical consultation of cataract patients in Yunnan's "Guangming Trip" to Myanmar. He said that the Myanmar Global Health Practice Base of the Peking University School of Public Health is an important measure to respond to the national strategy "the Belt and Road initiative" and the Tutorial for Outline of the Healthy China 2030 Plan. The Peking University School of Public Health is committed to establishing a cooperation and exchange mechanism through this platform, promoting the cooperation among the governments, university institutions, non-governmental organizations and medical and health institutions of China and Myanmar, and jointly realizing the development of the public health field in China and Myanmar.

Zhang Jun, Regional Director of HPA East Asia, expressed that HPA, founded in 1984, is a global health development charity headquartered in London, which gives priority to supporting local people in remote and underdeveloped areas with development tools and technologies adapted to local conditions. It has improved its health status through its own efforts and capacity improvement, and it has carried out health projects in 13 countries and regions around the globe. HPA East Asia Project Office is located in Kunming, Yunnan Province, China. Since 1993, HPA has carried out health and poverty alleviation work in the areas of cross-border infectious disease control, maternal and child health care, humanitarian relief and other fields in the China Myanmar border armed conflict areas and cities along the economic corridors, e.g., Yangon and Kyaukpyu, and has established good relations with local governments, communities, non-governmental organizations, etc. Zhang Jun expressed his gratitude on behalf of more than 100 staff from HPA East Asia to the School of Public Health of Peking University. Professors from the Peking University School of Public Health carried out intervention projects in maternal and child health in Myanmar and evaluated the results more than ten years ago, which laid a solid foundation for the establishment of the base. He firmly believed that the establishment of the Myanmar Global Health Practice Base of the Peking University School of Public Health will further boost the in-depth cooperation in the field of public health between China and Myanmar.

Zheng Zhijie, Director of the Department of Global Health, Peking University School of Public Health, pointed out that global health, as the peak discipline of the medical development of Peking University, has been included in the key construction field of the development plan of "Building a world-class university and a first-class discipline", and has gathered a group of powerful researchers. In the past few years, scientific research teams from the Department of Global Health have made several trips to the China-Myanmar border area to investigate the local health system, medical service delivery and residents' health conditions, providing a basis for the evaluation of the current HPA project and the development of follow-up projects. The Department of Global Health of the Peking University School of Public Health is committed to establishing partnerships, promoting mutual learning mechanisms, combining China's experience in health development with Myanmar's national conditions through overseas internships and practical visits, and taking the opportunity of country studies, conducting research in health system construction, public health security issues and other fields. The establishment of the Global Health Practice Base in Myanmar will also provide students interested in the field of global health with in-depth learning opportunities, and lay the foundation for the cultivation of global health reserve talents in China.

Cai Tao from the HPA East Asia Office introduced the coverage area, implementation purpose, specific contents and achievements of the HPA project in Myanmar. He also summarized the experience and challenges in the early stage of project implementation, which provided the basis for promoting the project implementation through the Global Health Practice Base platform in the next step.

Li Jiayin from HPA Myanmar Office introduced the social, economic and cultural environment of Myanmar, the development status of the health system and the major health challenges faced, providing reference for the base to carry out and implement health intervention projects tailored to local conditions in the future.

Teachers from the Peking University School of Public Health also put forward valuable suggestions and ideas on the construction goals and development mode of the base.

Both parties held the opening ceremony of Myanmar Global Health Practice Base of Peking University School of Public Health, and took a group photo.

The next day, the Peking University School of Public Health and members of the HPA project team held in-depth and detailed discussions on base construction, project management, student training, fund management, security and other aspects, and reached an agreement on the next step of bilateral cooperation. Teachers from the Peking University School of Public Health visited HPA's Myanmar office and visited hospitals, communities and other institutions in Yangon.