VOI - Voice of Indonesia | RRI - Radio Republik Indonesia

The G20's 3rd Health Working Group (HWG) meeting will discuss the issue of antimicrobial resistance (AMR), the Indonesian G20 Presidency’s health spokesperson, Siti Nadia Tarmizi, has informed.



"At the 3rd HWG, an additional agenda to discuss AMR, such as various efforts related to the prevention and control of antimicrobial resistance, will be carried out," she revealed at a press conference on “Road to 3rd Health Working Group,” on Thursday.



The HWG is a part of the G20's Sherpa Track, which is focused on global health architecture. The 3rd HWG meeting will be held on August 22–24, 2022, in Bali, and the main issue it will discuss is efforts to increase vaccine production and research networks and manufacturers.



On a separate occasion, YARSI University's post-graduate director, Prof. Tjandra Yoga Aditama, said that antimicrobial resistance is currently a major global problem, and has even been referred to as a “silent epidemic.”



"If there is no adequate effort, the world may enter an era where antimicrobials, including antibiotics, antifungals, antivirals, antiparasitics, and others, will no longer be able to treat infections," Aditama cautioned.



If this is not prevented, he said, it will have a huge impact on human health, as infectious diseases will be uncontrolled.



The 3rd HWG meeting will be divided into four sessions. Other than discussing building a network of researchers and manufacturers for public health emergencies, conversations on efforts to face future pandemics will also take place at the meeting.



The third and last sessions will discuss the government and the private sector's participation in supporting the network, and G20 initiatives in strengthening the research and manufacturing ecosystem to ensure equitable access to vaccines, medicines, and diagnostic tools.



The meeting will be attended by delegates from 19 G20 member states and non-G20 guests. In addition, five regional representative countries, such as Fiji, Congo, Cambodia, Rwanda, and Belize, as well as 14 related international organizations have been invited to the meeting. (Antaranews)