"If the world does not have equal capacity to handle the pandemic, it will not end," he stressed during a press conference in Nusa Dua, Bali Province, on Monday.
Scientifically, infectious diseases have the potential to trigger repeated waves of pandemics when there is movement of travelers to various countries and during interactions. In fact, several countries, such as the United States, have repeatedly experienced waves of the COVID-19 pandemic, Sadikin noted.
"The concept is: all human beings in the world must be treated equally. That is the principle of a pandemic," he emphasized.
Therefore, Indonesia is encouraging the development of research capacity, drug production, and medical devices in all countries through the G20 forum.
"It is impossible for one country to solve a global pandemic. Because transmission occurs across countries," the minister said.
He further said that the COVID-19 pandemic has brought a lesson regarding unfair capacity in the development and production of vaccines, treatments, and diagnostics worldwide, which can lead to delays in meeting rapid global demand during health emergencies.
"As the COVID-19 pandemic begins to subside globally, there is no better time than now to work on ensuring not only fair, but also equal access to developing vaccines, therapies, and diagnostic tools globally," Sadikin added.
Throughout 2022, Indonesia has contributed to strengthening the global health architecture through three main agendas, he said.
The first agenda is strengthening the resilience of the global health system to ensure the availability of financial resources and access to emergency medical action; building a global network of genome surveillance laboratories; and strengthening reliable data sharing mechanisms.
The second agenda is harmonizing global health protocol standards to produce vaccine certificates for international travelers that are mutually recognized by countries.
Meanwhile, under the third agenda, which was discussed at the 3rd Health Working Group (HWG) in Bali on August 22–24 2022, the main issue is to expand global manufacturing and research centers for pandemic prevention, preparedness, and response (PPR).
"We want to achieve the expansion of global manufacturing and research centers for pandemic prevention, preparedness, and response," Sadikin said.
Related news: Directing a relevant G20 amid the world's polycrisis in 2022
Related news: Incorrect perception that pandemic is over: WHO Director-General
Translator: Andi Firdaus, Resinta S
Editor: Rahmad Nasution
Copyright © ANTARA 2022
