Bangkok, August 22, 2022 – Organon, a global women’s health company, together with a wide-ranging group of organizations working with the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC), today launched the APEC Smart Families project, with the aim of eventually avoiding and reversing demographic trends that pose long-term economic challenges to the region. APEC – led by Thailand as the host economy of the Third Senior Officials and Related Meetings (SOM3) – is developing the project with the Thailand Ministry of Public Health, intra-government agencies, family planning experts, academics, international organizations, and the private sector, including Organon.
Of APEC’s 21 member economies, 17 are significantly challenged by demographic trends, including total fertility rates falling below replacement rates. Birth rates have fallen across the region from 22 births per 1,000 in 1989 to 14 births per 1,000 in 2018. This, along with an increased elderly dependency ratio, has resulted in rising total dependency ratios since 2010, weakening economic security and posing long-term, negative economic challenges. Another demographic challenge in Asia Pacific is the prevalence of high rates of unintended pregnancy (UIPs), which directly impact women’s economic participation.
To address these ongoing demographic trends, APEC SOM3 2022 host country Thailand will commence the Smart Families project by convening a symposium for interested economies on the sidelines of the conference, creating a platform for sharing learnings and policy perspectives to support their mutual initiatives.
Dr Bunyarit Sukrat, Director, Bureau of Reproductive Health Division, and Project Overseer of APEC Smart Families said: “The most significant demographic challenges faced by APEC economies are low birth rates and high unintended pregnancies. We therefore need family planning policies that effectively address these challenges, so individuals and families who want to have children and avoid unintended pregnancies are provided easy access to fertility planning and contraceptive information and services.”
The APEC Smart Families project seeks to both initiate a policy dialogue and develop comprehensive policy options, as well as build consensus among APEC members to collaborate on addressing these trends. Input will be sought from health, education, finance and labor and other intra-government agencies, family planning experts, civil society, academia, international organizations, and the private sector.
“Early access to family planning has the potential to elevate gender inclusion and advance women’s economic empowerment, which is crucial to building a sustainable future for women, families, economies and societies,” said Michael Pergine, Organon’s Head of Global Policy, Government Relations and ESG Strategy. “Organon is committed to investing in her health and equity to make a difference in all of the APEC economies, and we look forward to collaborating with all of the organizations involved in this important project.”
The first phase of the Smart Families project will see panelists identify and propose holistic policy options during the course of the symposium, including fertility planning for individuals and families who want to have children, and the avoidance of unintended pregnancies to enable women’s economic empowerment. Following the symposium, an expert working group will be assembled to further develop and formalize policy options over the course of three sessions between October 2022 and June 2023.
The final “APEC Smart Families: Comprehensive, Holistic Policy Options”, approved by APEC Health Working Group (HWG), will be published as an APEC publication. The target completion date is the 13th APEC High Level Meeting on Health & the Economy in August 2023.