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Indonesia to call for equitable vaccine access, manufacturing at G20 forum
Indonesia said it would focus on ensuring equitable access to vaccines and manufacturing, among other topics, as the country is set to kick off the Group of 20 (G20) Health Working Group (HWG) meeting.
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A health worker prepare to give the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine at a makeshift clinic at the Aceh Museum in Banda Aceh on Jan. 17. (AFP/Chaideer Mahyuddin)
As part of its push for a more inclusive global health system, Indonesia has said it would focus on ensuring equitable access to vaccine supplies and manufacturing, among other topics, as the country is set to kick off the Group of 20 (G20) Health Working Group (HWG) meeting.
The meeting, which is scheduled to be held in Yogyakarta on March 28-30, is the first HWG forum held by the country, which currently holds the rotating G20 presidency, and is set to be held in hybrid format.
Reforming the global health architecture is one of the three priorities set out by Indonesia as part of its G20 presidency, along with digital-based transformation and sustainable energy transition.
The Health Ministry’s secretary of public health directorate Siti Nadia Tarmizi said the COVID-19 pandemic had exposed the inadequacy of the existing global health architecture in coordinating efforts to tackle the spread of the disease.
“There are striking differences in terms of each country’s capacity to detect new pathogens through genome surveillance in preparation for more effective responses,” said Siti in a press conference on Wednesday.
“In response to the situation, G20 leaders should collaborate further to become more inclusive, cooperative, responsive and agile in dealing with various health issues.”
Such collaboration, Siti said, needed to be designed to help middle- to lower-income countries respond to future threats and empower the latter’s national health care systems. She added that without strong political commitments to establish a stronger global health system, countries could face more struggles to exit the COVID-19 pandemic.
