Jakarta (ANTARA) - Indonesian Foreign Affairs Minister Retno Marsudi emphasized the need for countries worldwide to boost global health architecture and be ready to handle the pandemic in future.

All countries understand that the pandemic is not yet over, and handling the pandemic remains the current priority, she said in a statement on Tuesday.

At the same time, countries across the world should strengthen global health architecture in order to be ready for future pandemics, she remarked during the COVID-19 Global Action Plan Foreign Ministerial Meeting held virtually.

In order to strengthen the global health architecture, the minister outlined three issues to focus attention.

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The first concerns distribution of public health needs, considering that access to medical solutions are currently not yet equal, especially in developing countries.

The minister highlighted the need to have a permanent mechanism to encourage equal access to medical solutions.

COVAX can be utilized for this goal, including at the regional level, but it has to be supported with adequate supply, she stated.

Countries have to strengthen the production capacity of developing countries by replicating the hub and spoke model for vaccine production, she noted.

The second involves pandemic preparedness financing. Within this context, the Financial Intermediary Fund (FIF), developed during Indonesia's G20 Presidency, is deemed crucial to help countries handle health emergencies.

Indonesia has committed to donate US$50 million to FIF and invited other countries to also contribute.

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For the third issue, Marsudi underlined the importance of observing global health management that is related to the ongoing process of establishing a new Pandemic Treaty.

Better pandemic preparedness based on the principle of solidarity and equality should be the foundation for global health management in the future, with the World Health Organization (WHO) as mandate holder, she remarked.

In addition, the minister invited other countries to synergize in order to recover stronger from the pandemic.

The COVID-19 Global Action Plan Foreign Ministerial Meeting was an event initiated by the United States and Japan.

The goal of the meeting was to push countries' political will in ending the pandemic and bolstering preparedness against health threats in future.


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Translator: Yashinta Difa P, Fadhli Ruhman
Editor: Fardah Assegaf
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