Day: June 24, 2022

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Sydney WorldPride Welcomes the World With Giant Human Progress Flag

Sydney World Pride 2023

Sydney World Pride 2023

SYDNEY, June 24, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Nearly 1,000 Sydneysiders have created a giant human Progress Flag on the steps of the Sydney Opera House.

The colourful display marks the 44th anniversary of the first Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras and sends a message of welcome to the world as Sydney, Australia gears up to host WorldPride in 2023, with the hotly-anticipated tickets going on sale from 15 July. Locals and visitors alike can sign up to access early bird tickets.

Sydney’s famous Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras is a must-do in the calendar of global Pride festivals – and Sydney WorldPride will be a 17-day celebration of Australian LGBTQIA+ fabulousness, with over 300 events across the city.

Taking place from 17 February to 5 March 2023, Sydney WorldPride will celebrate Australia’s brilliant and diverse LGBTQIA+ community, in a city renowned for its diversity, inclusivity and proud LGBTQIA+ population.

More than 500,000 people are expected to participate in Sydney WorldPride and the festival will feature much-loved events including the world-famous Mardi Gras Parade, which will be returning to Oxford Street for the first time in three years.

In addition, there will be exciting one-off Sydney WorldPride major events:

  • Live & Proud – Sydney WorldPride’s Opening Concert, presented by American Express – we’re getting the party started with this opening concert, hosted by Courtney Act and Casey Donovan.
  • Pride Villages – for 10 days from 24 February, sections of Crown Street and Riley Street will be closed and become home to stalls, dining and performances. On the final weekend of Sydney WorldPride, a section of Oxford Street itself will be closed to create a giant street party.
  • Bondi Beach Party, presented by Optus – for one day only, the sandy jewel of Sydney will become the city’s hottest club for 12,000 people.
  • Sydney WorldPride Human Rights Conference – the largest LGBTQIA+ human rights conference ever held in the Asia-Pacific region.
  • Blak & Deadly: The First Nations Gala Concert – experience a rainbow explosion of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander LGBTQIA+ artistry, across a two-hour concert hosted by Steven ‘Faboriginal’ Oliver at the Sydney Opera House.
  • First Nations Gathering Space – held at Carriageworks and running across six nights, featuring exhibits, theatre, dining and drag.
  • Rainbow Republic, presented by Optus – six hours of live music, DJs and performances await you at The Domain, for a queer megamix of international and local acts.
  • Ultra Violet – an inclusive LGBTQIA+ women’s party at Sydney’s Town Hall where burlesque stars, cabaret performers and drag kings take to the stage.
  • Domain Dance Party – dance with 10,000 of your mates at the biggest LGBQTIA+ outdoor dance party Australia has ever seen.
  • Pride March – 50,000 people will join this historic Pride march across one of the world’s most-recognisable landmarks, the Sydney Harbour Bridge.

Local and international headliners for major events will be revealed later this year.

Sydney WorldPride Chief Operating Officer, Gabriel Pinkstone, said: “In just a few months, Sydney will be transformed as more than 500,000 people come together for the global family reunion LGBTQIA+ people have been waiting for.”

“Sydney WorldPride is a party with a purpose, and will celebrate Sydney’s most iconic locations, from Bondi Beach to the Sydney Opera House and the Harbour Bridge.”

“It’s the biggest summer event of 2023 and we can’t wait to welcome everyone back to celebrate Pride with Australia’s diverse LGBTQIA+ community.”

As well as Sydney WorldPride’s major events, there will be over 60 specially curated arts events and more than 20 sporting events as part of WorldPride Arts and WorldPride Sports. WorldPride Arts have been made possible thanks to Create New South Wales (NSW).

Sydney WorldPride will also feature a special one-off event in Newcastle called Pink Salt, an outdoor long table dinner to be hosted at The Station, featuring live performances and outrageous design.

Minister for Enterprise, Investment and Trade, Minister for Tourism and Sport and Minister for Western Sydney, Stuart Ayres, said: “Sydney WorldPride 2023 will showcase our incredible and inclusive city to a global audience and will re-establish Sydney as a must-visit destination for visitors.”

“It’ll be the first time this event has been held in the Southern Hemisphere and has the potential to be the biggest event Sydney has seen since the Sydney 2000 Olympics.”

“As a city and a state, we are embracing the freedom we have earned through the hard times of the past two years.”

“The NSW Government continues to invest in world-class entertainment, hospitality and events; our goal is to be the events capital of the Asia-Pacific and supporting Sydney WorldPride 2023 helps achieve this.”

“NSW is ready to host this event and we are encouraging visitors to make the trip to enjoy the best that Sydney has to offer.”

Local artists, producers and party promoters are also being invited to take part in Pride Amplified, a dedicated open-access program for arts, culture, experiences and parties, with hundreds of events expected to take place across Greater Sydney.

Clover Moore, the Lord Mayor of the City of Sydney, said: “The City is proud to be a fierce ally of the rainbow community and we are delighted to welcome the world to Sydney for Pride in 2023!”

“This is a fantastic moment for Sydney. Hosting WorldPride 2023 is an affirmation of our city as a richly diverse and accepting society, open to the world and inclusive of all, and a wonderful opportunity to help our arts, tourism and hospitality sectors that were so hard hit by the Covid pandemic.”

Gil Beckwith, Chief Financial Officer, Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras, said: “We’re incredibly excited to welcome the world’s LGBTQIA+ communities to our city for Sydney WorldPride and Mardi Gras.”

“This event will not only showcase the iconic surrounds of Sydney and NSW as a premier tourist destination, but it will also boost the profile of the Mardi Gras Festival to international audiences, creating a legacy that will have an important impact on the growth of Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras and our community in years to come.”

TICKETS

Every year, Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras is the hottest summer event in Sydney, with international headliners and visitors from around the globe joining one of the world’s most renowned Pride festivals.

Tickets go on sale to the general public at 09:00 AEST on 15 July via SydneyWorldPride.com.

To secure early access to Sydney WorldPride tickets, sign up now at sydneyworldpride.com to access pre-sale tickets from 09:00 AEST on 11 July. Mardi Gras Members not only get pre-sale access but discounted tickets on many Mardi Gras events.

American Express Card Members will also have access to a selection of Sydney WorldPride pre-sale tickets from 9 am AEST, 11 July via the American Express website (T&Cs apply).

Sydney WorldPride is proud to offer $49 + booking fee tickets to select events for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people through MobTix, and for select concession card holders through our Affordability Program.

Special thanks to Gildan Brands Australia for their generous donation of over 1,000 Gildan t-shirts worn by the participants in the Human Progress Flag. 

MEDIA CONTACT:  Matt Fraser: mfraser@originalspin.com.au phone +61 401 326 007

ABOUT WORLDPRIDE

WorldPride is a global event licensed by InterPride, which is awarded to a different host city every 2-3 years.

Like the Olympics, cities bid to host the event and deliver a comprehensive program of arts, culture and festivals designed to engage global LGBTQIA+ audiences. The first WorldPride took place in Rome in July 2000, followed by Jerusalem (2006), London (2012), Toronto (2014), Madrid (2017), New York (2019) and Copenhagen + Malmo (2021).

FULL LIST OF 2023 EVENTS

A full list of the Sydney WorldPride festival’s events is as follows:

Related Images

Image 1: Sydney World Pride 2023

Human Progress Pride Flag at Sydney Opera House. Photo credit: Daniel Boud

Image 2: Sydney WorldPride – Human Progress Pride Flag – Sydney Opera House

Photo credit: Daniel Boud

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Groundbreaking Global Research Shows the True Value of Self-Care

Realising the potential of self-care, for everyone, everywhere will deliver even more savings and higher quality of life

Featured Image for Global Self-Care Federation

Featured Image for Global Self-Care Federation

GENEVA, June 24, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — At the beginning of WHO Self-Care Month, the Global Social and Economic Value of Self-Care study, released today in full by the Global Self-Care Federation, demonstrates that current self-care practices deliver significant economic savings and quality-of-life improvements:

  • savings of nearly $120 billion each year for global healthcare systems and, therefore, national economies.
  • savings of 40.8 billion productive days for both health practitioners and individuals, which translates to an average of 11.83 workdays per person per year. It corresponds to a value of $1,879 billion in welfare effects.
  • gain of 22 million quality-adjusted life years (QALYs), the standard measurement for the value of health outcomes.

These are the key findings of this groundbreaking research, which is the first global research project analysing the worldwide value and impact of self-care, across 155 countries. Importantly, it is the first study to include data from low- and middle-income countries, providing a unique global perspective.

Judy Stenmark, Director General at GSCF, said, “Given the proven benefits and efficiency gains that self-care delivers, it is clear self-care has to be given much higher priority by governments at all levels. It is currently an area that is sadly too often overlooked in health policy. And that applies to both the wealthier industrialised nations and the world’s lower-income countries and regions.”

The Study distinguishes between two main approaches. ‘Self-care first’ refers to the practice of self-care as the first treatment option, which is typically more prevalent in developed economies. The second is ‘self-care only’ is the use of self-care instead of doing nothing, in particular when it is the only available option in low-income countries.

Stenmark continued, “The Study very clearly demonstrates the benefits of self-care for individuals, healthcare professionals and health systems. It will be a major contributor to achieving universal health coverage and access to quality healthcare, both of which are clearly articulated in the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals and the World Health Organization’s ‘triple billion’ goals.

“It is now time to realise the potential of self-care, for everyone, everywhere.”

The Study split the 155 countries into three groupings based on healthcare accessibility and affordability. It analysed levels of self-care integration, using a systematic literature review, economic modelling and other exhaustive tools to determine the value of self-care in a robust, scientific manner, to estimate the value self-care can bring according to a country’s socio-economic context. Although the effects of self-care are quantified using the current and projected future consumption of over-the-counter (OTC) products, self-care is much more than that. Self-care is a multifaceted and multidimensional concept which includes a variety of health-related practices. There needs to be a greater recognition of these elements and the benefits of self-care from all key stakeholders.

Media Enquiries: claverty@selfcarefederation.org

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CORRECTION – Zoom Unveils Platform Evolution; Launches New Packaging and Translation Feature

  • Zoom One is a new offering that brings together options for persistent chat, phone, meetings, whiteboard, and more into a single, secure and scalable package
  • All-new translation feature allows meetings to be translated between English and any of the 10 languages, or from those languages into English

SAN JOSE, Calif., June 23, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) —

Zoom Video Communications, Inc. (NASDAQ: ZM) is updating a press release issued on June 22, 2022 to clarify that Unlimited Regional Calling is an optional add-on feature for Zoom One Enterprise and Enterprise Plus customers. Complete corrected text follows.

Zoom Video Communications, Inc. (NASDAQ: ZM) today unveiled the latest evolution of its communications platform with the introduction of Zoom One, a new offering that brings together persistent chat, phone, meetings, whiteboard, and more into secure and scalable packages. Additionally, Zoom also launched an all new translated and multi-language captions feature.

“Simplicity is at the core of everything we do. As the Zoom platform has evolved from a meeting app to a comprehensive communications platform, it was clear that introducing new packaging like Zoom One was the next step in the company’s evolution,” said Greg Tomb, President, Zoom. “By bringing together chat, phone, meetings, whiteboard, and more in a single offering, we are able to offer our customers solutions that are simple to manage, so they can focus on business issues that matter most.”

“Businesses continue to realize the time and cost saving a single provider can offer. According to Omdia’s latest end user survey, 40% of organizations are prioritizing investments around eliminating multiple cloud-based UC solutions that may be deployed within their organizations,” states Brent Kelly, Principal Analyst, Omdia Research. “The need to simplify business operations is a market trend that we see as being increasingly important, and Zoom One’s tiered bundles and common management console aligns well to this customer demand.”

Zoom One’s intuitive experience
Purpose-built to work together, Zoom One’s intuitive experience offers customers the choice between six tiered offerings according to their business needs.

  • Zoom One Basic provides free 40-minute Zoom Meetings for up to 100 attendees, persistent Zoom Chat for team messaging, limited Zoom Whiteboard for synchronous and asynchronous work, and real-time transcription.
  • Zoom One Pro provides everything Zoom One Basic offers without Meeting time limits, plus cloud recording.
  • Zoom One Business provides everything Zoom One Pro offers, plus Zoom Meetings for up to 300 attendees and unlimited Zoom Whiteboards.
  • Zoom One Business Plus provides everything Zoom One Business offers, plus Zoom Phone Pro with unlimited regional calling and Zoom’s all-new translation feature.
  • Zoom One Enterprise and Zoom One Enterprise Plus are similar to Zoom One Business, with larger meeting capacity and additional features, like Zoom Webinars, to help modern businesses scale. Unlimited Regional Calling is an optional add-on feature for Zoom One Enterprise and Enterprise Plus.

Zoom One Basic, Pro, Business and Business Plus plans are available for purchase online today. To purchase Zoom One Enterprise or Enterprise Plus, customers can speak to an account executive directly. For more information, visit https://zoom.us/pricing.

“If you provide a complete suite of reliable and easy-to-use communication tools that people can use to do their jobs, they are less likely to be using one-off solutions outside of our offerings – which in turn simplifies our support and delivery model,” said Rob Kerr, chief information officer at Cooley, a global law firm with 3,300 employees in 17 offices across the United States, Asia, and Europe. “Zoom’s secure portfolio of unified video, chat, whiteboarding, and telephony solutions aligns our global teams and allows Cooley to better serve its clients.”

For more information on the new, simplified offerings or to find the plan that is best suited for your business, visit the Zoom blog.

Introducing translated & multi-language captions
Launching first in Zoom One Business Plus and Zoom One Enterprise Plus packages, Zoom’s translated captions will allow users to view captions translated into the language of their choice. At launch, translations will be available between English and 10 additional languages, or from any of the 10 languages to English. The ability to translate directly to and from English is known as bi-directional translation. Translated captions display at the base of the screen while in a Zoom Meeting.

The bi-directional translations are available in the following languages: Chinese (Simplified), Dutch, English, French, German, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Russian, Spanish, and Ukrainian.

To access the translated captions feature, Zoom One customers must upgrade to either the Zoom One Business Plus or Zoom One Enterprise Plus packages (in applicable countries).

Zoom also extended its automated captioning – the ability to caption in real-time what a speaker is saying in the same language as the one spoken – to include 10 additional languages. Automated captions previously were supported in English, but now can be displayed in the additional 10 languages referenced above. Multi-language automated captions are available in Business Plus, Enterprise, and Enterprise Plus packages with additional support for other plans coming soon.

About Zoom
Zoom is for you. Zoom is a space where you can connect to others, share ideas, make plans, and build toward a future limited only by your imagination. Our frictionless communications platform is the only one that started with video as its foundation, and we have set the standard for innovation ever since. That is why we are an intuitive, scalable, and secure choice for large enterprises, small businesses, and individuals alike. Founded in 2011, Zoom is publicly traded (NASDAQ:ZM) and headquartered in San Jose, California. Visit zoom.com and follow @zoom.

Zoom Public Relations
Candace Dean
Corporate PR Lead
press@zoom.us

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Health minister urges IBI to improve members’ professionalism

Jakarta Health Minister Budi Gunadi Sadikin called on the Indonesian Midwives Association (IBI) to continue to improve the level of professionalism of its members through learning and collaboration to better face various professional challenges.

“IBI must continue to improve the professional quality, learning, and collaboration to produce a competent health workforce, especially midwives, who carry out their roles as care service providers, decision makers, communication liaisons, and managers,” Sadikin stated during his welcome speech for the 71st IDI Anniversary in Jakarta, Friday.

The minister remarked that the COVID-19 pandemic, which had not yet ended, had an impact on maternal and child health services. Unfortunately, this was only one of the several current challenges in the health sector.

Sadikin noted that the midwife profession has played a role in improving access and quality of maternal and child health services, family planning (KB), and reproductive health, as well as participating in the 2022 World Immunization Week.

The minister noted that the government had continually striven to reduce maternal, infant, and under-five mortality rates, lower the number of cases of stunting and malnutrition, as well as increase immunization coverage through a life cycle approach by boosting access and quality of health services.

“Together with professional organizations and related stakeholders, the government has an obligation to prepare and provide competent health human resources complying with the provisions,” Sadikin remarked.

The minister affirmed that midwives, as health workers at the forefront of maternal and child services, must understand the concept and proper implementation of pregnancy, postpartum mothers, newborn, toddlers, women’s reproductive and family planning services.

Meanwhile, IBI General Chairwoman Dr Emi Nurjasmi stated that the number of midwives in Indonesia reached around 500 thousand. This figure was still in the verification process through data integration from several related professional organizations.

As many as 70-75 percent of the midwives are spread in the community, especially in various primary services and their networks to facilitate access to services for the community, Nurjasmi expounded.

The equal distribution of midwives encourages people to rely on their services in accessing maternal, infant, and toddler health services as well as the Family Planning (KB) Program.

“Data from the results of basic health research in 2018 showed that almost 82.4 percent of the services for pregnant women were provided by midwives, both in primary and referral facilities. Meanwhile, some 62.3 percent of the deliveries were assisted by midwives,” she remarked.

These provisions include a Professional Registration Certificate (STR) and a practice permit to ensure that both the patients and midwives are protected on the basis of stipulated conditions.

In the family planning service sector, Nurjasmi stated that 76.4 percent of the families were served by midwives since the tariff was more affordable, and they were close to the community.

“The 2019 Midwifery Law regulates the existence of the midwife profession that is strictly regulated as the main reference for the midwife profession. This included changes and developments that will be conducted according to the applicable regulations,” she stated.

Source: ANTARA News

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FMD: Gov’t aims to vaccinate 800,000 livestock prior to Eid

Jakarta The government is aiming to vaccinate as many as 800 thousand heads of livestock against the foot-and-mouth (FMD) disease before Eid al-Adha, the Agriculture Ministry has said.

“We will ensure that the currently available 800 thousand doses of the vaccine are confirmed to be administered to livestock no later than two weeks before Eid al-Adha,” Director General of Livestock and Animal Health at the Agriculture Ministry Nasrullah said during a coordination meeting of the FMD Task Force, which was accessed from here on Friday.

So far, the Agriculture Ministry has distributed 655,100 doses of the FMD vaccine to 19 provinces affected by the outbreak, he informed. His administration is aiming to complete the allocation of 800 thousand vaccine doses by July 7, 2022.

He said that the ministry will try to procure 3 million additional FMD vaccine doses in June and July. In the first stage, only 800 thousand doses of the vaccine have arrived in Indonesia. Another 2.2 million doses are expected to arrive in Indonesia in July.

Head of the National Disaster Management Agency and head of the FMD Task Force, Lieutenant General Suharyanto, informed that President Joko Widodo has directed that at least 3 million vaccines be administered to livestock before Eid al-Adha.

As many as 215 cities and districts in 19 provinces of Indonesia are currently affected by the outbreak.

Nasrullah said that in accordance with President Widodo’s directives, the Agriculture Ministry will track and inform of the status of the outbreak in each sub-district and impose lockdowns or restrictions on livestock movement or distribution.

So far, 1,865 sub-districts and 56,950 villages have been affected by the disease.

East Java, West Nusa Tenggara, Aceh, West Java, and Central Java have recorded the highest rates of infection.

As many as 232,549 livestock have been infected with FMD so far, with 152,618 not yet recovered and 1,333 dying of the disease. The infected livestock include at least 227,070 cows.

Source: ANTARA News

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Govt to apply COVID strategy to contain FMD outbreak: BNPB

Jakarta The government will form a Task Force for Handling Foot-and-Mouth Disease (FMD), which will apply the COVID-19 handling strategy to control the outbreak, the National Disaster Mitigation Agency (BNPB) has informed.

The FMD Task Force will comprise personnel from the central and regional governments, the Indonesian Defense Forces (TNI), and National Police (Polri), as well as veterinarians, animal husbandry experts, and officials from veterinary drug associations, who will undertake tasks ranging from data collection to prevention.

BNPB head Lieutenant General Suharyanto said that the formation of the FMD Task Force will be in line with the directions of President Joko Widodo (Jokowi). The task force will be integrated with the stakeholders in the ministries of agriculture, home affairs, Coordinating Ministry for Economic Affairs, and BNPB from TNI and Polri elements.

Suharyanto said that so far, there is no specific treatment or antivirus available for treating FMD in livestock. Therefore, stakeholders need to increase livestock’s immunity and vaccinate uninfected livestock.

“The task force will also support the development of supporting alternative therapies such as convalescent plasma. Later, we will discuss this since the antivirus has not been found,” he said at an online meeting here on Friday.

Just like the strategy used at the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic before vaccinations were rolled out, the government will inject convalescent blood plasma from healthy cows into sick cows. Suharyanto expressed the hope that the convalescent plasma treatment would help infected livestock.

In addition, he asked regional heads to comply with the distribution of 1.8 million doses of the FMD vaccine that have been prepared by the Ministry of Agriculture for 19 affected provinces. The vaccination is aimed at preventing healthy livestock from getting infected with FMD.

He said that handling the FMD outbreak will also require strategic steps so that the state’s economy and people’s lives do not get affected.

“Hopefully, with our experience in handling COVID-19, we can also apply it in FMD handling,” he added.

Suharyanto also reminded that the formation of the FMD Task Force would become a reference for regional governments to develop and organize regional FMD Task Forces, especially in areas with no FMD cases.

“We have to remain vigilant and careful because the transmission from two provinces to 19 provinces has been very fast. We do not want all provinces in Indonesia to be infected with FMD. Other regions with no FMD cases must pay attention to this,” he added.

Source: ANTARA News

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G20: Indonesia strives for health diplomacy in pandemic preparedness

Since March 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic has seriously impacted countries both with strong and fragile health systems.

Citing information from Channel News Asia, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) estimated the global economic losses due to the pandemic to reach US$12.5 trillion, or Rp178,750 trillion, until 2024.

Indonesia was no exception, as it had to bear losses to the tune of Rp1,356 trillion in 2020 due to the pandemic. This figure was calculated on the basis of the economic growth realization, which was minus 2.07 percent, far below the state budget’s growth target of 5.3 percent.

In the costly effort to recover the national economy, Indonesia, as a developing country, has absorbed Rp95.13 trillion, or equivalent to 20.9 percent of the budget allocation, as of June 3, 2022.

According to the Committee for Handling COVID-19 and National Economic Recovery (KPC-PEN), the absorbed budget is mostly used for the community protection sector affected by the COVID-19 pandemic.

In addition, Rp24.46 trillion of the budget is intended for health care, such as tax incentives for vaccines or medical devices, as well as COVID-19 handling.

In addition, Rp55.85 trillion worth of realization for community protection was absorbed through the Family Hope Program (PKH), essential necessities cards, Pre-Employment Cards, Cash Transfer for Villages (BLT), as well as cash assistance for buying cooking oil and for street vendors, stall owners, and fishers.

President Joko Widodo (Jokowi) at the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) meeting, Wednesday (June 22), reminded that the world crisis was becoming increasingly real.

The head of state emphasized that amid efforts to recover the economy, the war between Russia and Ukraine had impacted the food and energy supply chains.

Several international institutions, such as the IMF, the World Bank, and the United Nations, forecast that 60 countries were in danger of collapsing due to the crisis, Jokowi pointed out.

“Who will help them when they have 42 (the collapsed countries)? International institutions may be able to help if only one, two, or three countries are in crisis. However, if the number has reached 42 countries, or even 60 (countries), we do not know what we should do,” he affirmed.

Diplomacy

Reflecting on the pandemic experience, Indonesia is keen to not waste the opportunity of hosting the G20, whose member countries represent 90 percent of the global gross domestic product (GDP), 80 percent of the total world trade, and two-thirds of the world’s population.

At the 1st G20 Health Ministerial Meeting held in Yogyakarta on June 20-21, 2022, Indonesia convened global health stakeholders with the health and financial sector leaders from 19 countries having the largest economic influence in the world.

Some leaders present at the health forum were the World Health Organization (WHO) Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (CEPI) CEO Richard Hatchett, Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) Secretary-General Mathias Cormann, and President of the Global Initiative on Sharing All Influenza Data (GISAID) Peter Bogner, as well as the Global Fund delegation.

Health Minister Budi Gunadi Sadikin, who led the forum, conveyed Indonesia’s promise to realize the scheme of raising and utilizing emergency funds for potential pandemics in the future.

The meeting also discussed the establishment of global health surveillance, so that countries can come together in case a particular pathogen, anywhere in the world, can trigger the next pandemic.

The G20 health ministers also readied a joint policy scheme that aims to optimize the movement of goods and the public during lockdowns.

“Hence, medical emergency measures can work together, and health workers can still serve the community,” he stated.

The G20 also aims to ensure equitable distribution of global research and manufacturing centers across all countries, so that the production of vaccines, therapeutic drugs, and diagnostic tools can reach worldwide.

On the same occasion, World Health Organization (WHO) Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus estimated that the financial need for strengthening global health security reaches US$31 billion per year.

“The WHO and World Bank estimate that US$31 billion is needed every year to strengthen global health security. Two-thirds of that (amount) could come from existing resources, but that leaves a gap of US$10 billion per year,” he pointed out.

To date, the G20 forum has agreed to commit to emergency fundraising of approximately US$1.2 billion for the establishment of the Financial Intermediary Fund (FIF).

Meanwhile, Singapore’s Health Minister Ong Ye Kung was among the senior officials, who attended the forum in Yogyakarta. Singapore is not a G20 member but has consistently fulfilled invitations to participate in G20-related summits.

Minister Ong stated that the FIF establishment and the emergency fundraising commitment were significant achievements in the world’s health sector development.

Moreover, GISAID President Peter Bogner welcomed the idea of the GISAID+ platform proposed by Indonesia. GISAID+ will be functioned to report various non-influenza pathogens from all parts of the world.

According to Boger, since GISAID reported COVID-19 in 2020, some countries have requested that other pathogens that potentially trigger future pandemics, such as Zika, Chikungunya, Dengue, Tuberculosis, Monkeypox, and others, can be included in GISAID’s report.

One health

Indonesia’s leadership in the G20 health forum also encouraged the new era of One Health implementation to address the root causes of the pandemic problem.

Recommended by WHO, One Health is a collaborative approach that is aimed at harmonizing the lives of people and animals, as well as ecosystems.

Indonesia held three pre-events before the One Health event to prepare the discussions and agenda more comprehensively.

The first pre-event was held on March 25, 2022, to discuss the Self-Assessment Questionnaire (SAQ); the second one, on May 13, 2022, covered One Health as an important tool for pandemic preparedness; while the forum on May 28, 2022, discussed the organization of One Health.

Indonesia’s G20 One Health side event was finally held in Lombok on June 8, 2022, with focus on the “One Health Policy Brief”.

The feedback for the One Health Policy Brief was included as part of the Declaration of the G20 Health Ministers 2022.

Source: ANTARA News

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FMD Task Force ensures accelerated handling in 19 red-zone provinces

Jakarta Head of the National Disaster Mitigation Agency (BNPB) Lieutenant General Suharyanto ensured that the Foot and Mouth Disease (FMD) Task Force will expedite FMD handling in 19 red-zone provinces.

“Our central Task Force will go directly to the 19 red zone provinces starting tomorrow morning,” Suharyanto, who is concurrently head of the FMD Task Force, stated during an online meeting in Jakarta on Friday.

Suharyanto noted that the central Task Force will help the regional task force in monitoring FMD handling to avoid price-related issues due to shortage in meat.

On the same occasion, Coordinator of the Expert Team for the FMD Task Force Wiku Adisasmito confirmed the availability of some 800 thousand doses of vaccine, of which 655 thousand doses were being distributed to majority of the areas.

“We hope to be able to complete the administration of 800 thousand doses in the next week. President Joko Widodo (Jokowi) has been informed about this. There will be another 2.2 million doses coming before Eid al-Adha,” he noted.

In addition, he said that another effort to expedite matters was by integrating the existing post into the FMD Task Force post to monitor livestock traffic.

It was earlier explained that only 25 provinces and 93 districts and cities were equipped with veterinary authority officials (POV) related to FMD treatment and vaccination.

Adisasmito had urged other provinces and districts and cities to immediately choose POV for the respective region.

“In order to support the treatment and vaccination efforts, each region must have veterinary personnel, whether they are civil servant or not. POV will help to accelerate treatment and vaccination in the region with qualified human resources,” he emphasized.

After treatment and vaccination, Adisasmito noted that POV will be responsible to draft a report regarding testing, tracing, and vaccination on livestock through iSIKHNAS that was integrated with the Bersatu Lawan COVID-19 application. He targeted the data integration to start in the next 12 weeks.

Source: ANTARA News

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