VOI - Voice of Indonesia | RRI - Radio Republik Indonesia

President Joko Widodo (Jokowi) has highlighted the necessity for devising a comprehensive and permanent solution to address health issues faced by the global community, particularly unpredictable issues.

"In the future, we will need a permanent solution to ensure the global community can handle unpredictable health issues," he said while delivering his speech at the World Economic Forum from the Presidential Palace in Bogor, West Java, on Thursday.

The global community needs to evaluate the present condition as the COVID-19 pandemic has exposed the vulnerabilities in the global healthcare system, he said.

Present global collaboration, such as the COVAX facility, is merely a temporary solution and the World Health Organization still lacks a strategic function and role in the global community, the President opined.

Jokowi affirmed that Indonesia, as the current holder of the G20 Presidency, will promote the strengthening of the resilience of the global health system, which will operate akin to the International Monetary Fund for the healthcare system, to fund the provision of vaccines, medicines, and health equipment.

He also highlighted the importance of a global health protocol standard, including for international travel, to synchronize health protocol enforcement between countries.

Empowering domestic health industry and manufacturing in developing countries through patent access for medicines and health equipment must be promoted by the global community as well, the President added.

"We need a common funding pool for the new global healthcare resilient system architecture," he remarked.

The President said he is convinced that the budget necessary to develop the new global healthcare architecture will be less than the budget spent to address the vulnerabilities in the global healthcare system that have been exposed by the COVID-19 pandemic.

"Developed countries ought not to be reluctant in voicing their support for this initiative, but because G20 will have a great role in developing the global healthcare architecture, we need to achieve an agreement with fellow G20 countries first," he added. (Antaranews)