Editor's note: The G20 Summit, to be held in Bali on Tuesday and Wednesday, will focus on the global health architecture, and clean energy and digital transformations. Due to the devastating economic and social impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic and the lack of many countries to address the health crisis, the summit is likely to ensure equitable access to COVID-19 vaccines, and promote sustainable and inclusive development. Four experts share their views on the issue with China Daily.
(MA XUEJING / CHINA DAILY)
Over the past 11 months, I have had the honor of presiding over the G20's health track, with the aim of making the global health system more inclusive, equitable, and responsive to health emergencies. At the start of this journey, the Indonesian presidency of the G20 set ambitious goals, and we have since navigated highly technical discussions while managing challenging geopolitical dynamics.
It has not been easy. But I have been reminded time and time again of the Confucian saying: "when it is obvious that the goals cannot be reached, don't adjust the goals; adjust the action steps". With this in mind, amid the specter of the COVID-19 pandemic, the Indonesian presidency encouraged all G20 members to put our differences aside and to engage actively in discussing without prejudice new solutions to shared global health challenges that affect all our citizens.
Progress made by all G20 economies
I am pleased to say that the G20 members have all "adjusted our action steps". We will submit an ambitious technical document to the G20 Leaders' Summit in Bali, Indonesia, on Tuesday and Wednesday, detailing the measures we have agreed upon to strengthen the global health architecture. I am proud that at the second G20 Health Ministers' Meeting in Bali at the end of October, the G20 members came together to speak the same language — the language of humanity above all, the language of health that knows no borders.
There were six major outcomes for the G20 discussions aimed at building global health resilience. First, the G20 has launched the Pandemic Fund, which has already received more than $1.4 billion in pledges, and, with continued G20 support, will continue to play a major role in financing the gap in capacity for low- and middle-income countries to prevent, prepare for and respond to pandemics.
Second, G20 members committed to discussing ways to build on the Access to COVID-19 Tools Accelerator (ACT-A) platform so we can have a global mechanism to respond more quickly to pandemics in the future.
Third, the G20 has made progress on genomic surveillance, which should pave the way for continued progress in the area of genomic data sharing between countries, so that we can better monitor pathogens of concern around the world.
Fourth, the G20 committed to building on the early successes of an international travel medical certificate system, and continuing to allow people to travel, and goods and services to be transported across borders safely during health emergencies.
Fifth, the G20 also committed to conducting a gap analysis and mapping exercise of existing and emerging vaccine research and manufacturing networks, so we can deliver vaccines, therapeutics, and diagnostic tools more equitably and effectively to populations in need.
And sixth, the G20 secured calls to action on several pressing health issues, including on increasing funding to combat tuberculosis; improving capacity to prevent, detect and respond to the looming threat of antimicrobial resistance; and implementing the One Health initiative aimed at securing the holistic and inextricably linked health of the environment, our food, our populations and the animal kingdom.
Global progress via bilateral cooperation
While I am proud of the concrete outcomes of the G20's efforts to strengthen the global health architecture at the multilateral level, we must also look to forge strategic bilateral partnerships to help build national and regional resilience. China is among Indonesia's closest partners in this regard, and our bilateral cooperation on healthcare is an area that is already paying dividends in strengthening our mutual healthcare resilience.
The health cooperation between China and Indonesia has been guided over the past five years by a memorandum of understanding on health cooperation, covering pressing issues for both countries, such as disease prevention, primary healthcare, universal health coverage, health promotion, child and maternal health, and human resource development. This month, we hope to renew and strengthen this memorandum of understanding for the next three years to also include new areas, such as secondary healthcare, health resilience and health technology.
Health resilience, in particular, is a key area where China-Indonesia cooperation can really add value, and the imminent renewal of our bilateral cooperation will hopefully drive this further forward. One of the most significant outcomes of Sino-Indonesian cooperation to strengthen health resilience is the establishment of the Joint Research and Development Centre on Vaccines and Genomics.
It is a platform to strengthen the scientific and technological capacity building in both China and Indonesia, and establish a sustainable long-term cooperative relationship in the field of vaccines and genomics.
I am also encouraged by numerous other efforts to build health resilience. These include the ongoing discussions on Sinovac vaccine development in Indonesia; a potential cooperation between Bio Farma and the Chengdu Institute of Biological Products; and the inauguration last month of the PT Etana Biotechnologies factory in the Pulogadung Industrial Estate, which produces mRNA-based COVID-19 vaccines thanks to technology transfer from Suzhou Abogen Biosciences and Walvax Biotechnology.
Setting the tone for wider pan-Asian cooperation
As Indonesia prepares to take on the ASEAN chairmanship in 2023, we are considering ways to bolster regional cooperation within the Association of Southeast Asian Nations and beyond to help respond to the most prominent health emergencies across the whole of Asia.
Our continent's large population is spread across a hugely diverse landmass and is increasingly prone to climate disasters and health emergencies. Many of the countries suffer from a gap in healthcare provision, including skilled healthcare personnel, robust healthcare infrastructure, limited financial resources, and a lack of up-to-date health technology. As is being demonstrated by discussions at the G20 and by China-Indonesia bilateral relations, the health resilience of our countries is dependent on health cooperation at all levels.
It is important that we try to emulate and replicate the successes of bilateral and multilateral health cooperation to help build health resilience across Asia, so we can better respond to these vulnerabilities. This seems like a lofty goal but our governments have no other choice but to cooperate to ensure the health security of all our citizens. We must set our differences aside and constantly review and adjust our actions to achieve goals that may seem impossible to reach, but all our citizens deserve.
The author is Indonesia's minister of health.
The views don't necessarily reflect those of China Daily.