Because, if we do not have an evenly distributed (medical) capacity throughout the world when a pandemic occurs, the pandemic will not end.
Bali (ANTARA) - Indonesian Health Minister Budi Gunadi Sadikin on Monday invoked “Tat Twam Asi,” a life principle of Balinese Hindus, as the spirit for global collaboration in handling future pandemics.

“Let me share with you the ancient Sanskrit philosophy taught to all Balinese people since they are very young in school, Tat Twam Asi, which means ‘I (am) you, (and) you are me,’” he said while inaugurating the 3rd Health Working Group (HWG) Meeting here on Monday.

The sentence has guided the Balinese people for centuries to be kind and to care for each other, he noted.

"They believe that to hurt each other is basically hurting themselves, and helping each other is ultimately helping themselves," he said.

So far, the 2022 G20 has discussed various efforts to strengthen the global health architecture with three main agendas, namely strengthening the resilience of the global health system, harmonizing global health protocol standards, as well as expanding global manufacturing and research centers to prevent and respond to pandemics in the future, the minister added.

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Meanwhile, the 3rd HWG Meeting focused on three main objectives. First, establishing a vaccine, therapeutic, and diagnostic tool (VTD) manufacturing center and a collaborative research center to support the development and strengthening of research-driven VTD manufacturing capacity in low middle-income countries (LMICs).

Second, share mechanisms and harmonize regulations to enable global capacity building to ensure and expedite the availability of VTDs during public health emergencies.

Furthermore, the objectives also include obtaining an in-principle agreement on the establishment of collaboration on the VTD Multi-Center Clinical Trial among G20 countries.

Pandemics can emerge anywhere in the world, and thus, quick response is important for mitigating disease outbreaks, Sadikin said.

"It is our collective responsibility to use this moment to expand research and production capacity fairly and equitably as a global preparation, prevention, and response attempt," he added.

He said that at the meeting, the G20 sought to encourage equality in medical tool research and production.

"Because, if we do not have an evenly distributed (medical) capacity throughout the world when a pandemic occurs, the pandemic will not end," he added.
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Translator: Andi Firdaus, Uyu Liman
Editor: Suharto
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