COVID-19 has pushed countries to improve healthcare: minister

Health Minister Budi Gunadi Sadikin has said that the COVID-19 pandemic has prompted countries to develop a better and more resilient national healthcare system.

“The COVID-19 pandemic has triggered us to develop a more resilient healthcare system with adequate access to medical treatment. We must wait for no longer because we need to protect our children and future generations,” Sadikin said at the Think 20 (T20) ‘Indonesian Healthcare Future Forward’ event, on Tuesday.

The pandemic has provided a once-in-a-century opportunity to stakeholders to reform and enhance the national healthcare system, he highlighted.

“Let us expedite our effort to recover together and recover stronger,” he remarked.

Sadikin pointed out that the local healthcare system, as the backbone of the national healthcare service, must be enhanced with the help of strong support systems.

“Indonesia, as the current holder of the G20 Presidency, will become the spearhead of collective action to ensure fair and universal access to vaccines,” the minister remarked.

A resilient healthcare system will bolster emergency response, he said, adding that countries across the world must improve their healthcare system and capacity.

Indonesia is committed to three priority aspects, he said. The first involves encouraging countries around the world to develop a resilient global healthcare system by synergizing financial resources, mobilizing essential medical responses, and enhancing the global healthcare system, he informed.

The second and third priorities are global harmonization of health protocol standards to restore global mobility and expansion of research centers and global manufacturing for pandemic prevention and response, Sadikin said.

To implement the three commitments, a new approach to global healthcare must be adopted, he added.

Source: Antara News