This harmonization comes in the form of travel certification collaboration between countries.
Jakarta (ANTARA) - G20 member countries have agreed to support the building of health protocol harmonization networks between countries, which will help maintain economic stability by allowing the movement of people and goods amid the pandemic.

"This harmonization comes in the form of travel certification collaboration between countries," the Health Ministry's secretary general, Kunta Wibawa Dasa Nugraha, said during the @G20updates event here on Friday.

"If a pandemic occurs again, countries will not need to implement regional quarantine," he added.

This international network connection is being encouraged to be one of the important points for the G20 Summit.

Health protocol harmonization will become a bridge between countries, especially those within the G20, to remain connected, he remarked.

"Healthy people can move or travel, while sick people cannot," he said.

The health protocol harmonization agreement is the result of the second G20 Health Ministerial Meeting in October 2022.

Health protocol collaboration through the applications of each country will be useful in controlling the mobility of healthy travelers.

"We expect that, if we confront a pandemic in the future, the people can travel while the economy still moves," Nugraha said.

This can be done by connecting countries to one another, conducting data exchange, and acknowledging each country's digital applications through the World Health Organization’s (WHO’s) standard QR code.

Through data exchange, only sick people will be banned from traveling. Meanwhile, healthy people will still be allowed to carry out activities outside of their homes so that the economy can still move.

Earlier, Nugraha also highlighted that the G20 health ministers have agreed to establish the Pandemic Fund to mitigate gaps in COVID-19 pandemic handling budgets.

G20 is a multilateral cooperation group that comprises 19 countries and the European Union (EU). Indonesia, which is holding the presidency of the grouping this year, will host the G20 Summit in Bali this month.

Related news: G20 Health Ministers agree to establish Pandemic Fund
Related news: G20 formalizes ACT to bolster collaboration in handling pandemics

Translator: Andi Firdaus, Fadhli Ruhman
Editor: Suharto
Copyright © ANTARA 2022