Health Ministry to form commission on specimen transfer

Health Minister Endang Sedyaningsih said her office would form a special commission to monitor virus specimen transfers from Indonesia to other countries.

“The commission will have the final say on whether or not we can send the virus to [research centers in] other countries,” she said Monday during the commemoration of World Pneumonia Day in Bandung.

She added that the National Institute of Health Research and Development (Balitbangkes) would coordinate research experiments conducted either domestically or in other countries.

“We will attempt to conduct all viral research experiments within the country. Should it be necessary to perform them overseas, they [foreign researchers] must meet requirements stipulated in the agreement on transfer of material,” she said.