Indonesia Cooperates With China To Support Health Transformation In Indonesia

Deputy Minister of Health of the Republic of Indonesia Dante S'ksono Harbuwono. (Photo: Doc. Antara)

JAKARTA - The Indonesian government is collaborating with the People's Republic of China (RRT) in an effort to support the implementation of the health transformation that is currently rolling in the country.

Reporting from a written statement from the Communication and Public Service Bureau of the Indonesian Ministry of Health in Jakarta, quoted by Antara, Saturday, April 8, the cooperation was held through the Third High Level Dialogue of the Republic of Indonesia (RI) - the People's Republic of China (RRT) as a commitment to diplomatic relations that had been built for 75 years.

Deputy Minister of Health of the Republic of Indonesia Dante S'ksono Harbuwono became one of Indonesia's delegates during his visit to China from 3 to 6 April 2023.

"This working visit is strategic in nature, namely taking the momentum of 75 years of diplomatic relations between Indonesia and the RRT for health cooperation between the two countries and in particular to support health transformation programs in the country," he said.

The Indonesian government appreciates the support of the government and the RRT industry for the transformation carried out through 23 collaborations in the pharmaceutical and medical equipment sector, as well as three collaborations in the field of hospital services, and one collaboration in the field of biotechnology.

During Dante's visit, a bilateral meeting was also held with the Deputy Minister of Health and Welfare of the RRT. Dante witnessed the signing of a collaboration between PT Biotis Indonesia and Minhai Biotechnology.

Deputy Minister of Health Dante emphasized the importance of investment realization and technology transfer from the RRT health industry to support the resilience of the vaccine industry and vaccination coverage in Indonesia.

He said pneumonia, one of the highest infant mortality causes in Indonesia, could be prevented by the PCV vaccine. This year, the Ministry of Health plans to launch a national PCV vaccine, with an annual requirement of up to 11.9 million doses.

"Currently, 100 percent of PCV vaccines are imported in finished form. Therefore, the Ministry of Health encourages all local producers to look for technology abroad and bring it to Indonesia," he said.

In the pillar of Health Resilience, it is strengthened by Indonesia's steps in realizing the independence of the pharmaceutical and medical device industry, including vaccine products and medical devices that are important for patient handling.

"This collaboration also targets the pillars of health technology, considering the rapid development of research and the health and biotechnology industry in the RRT," Dante added.

All of this cooperation is also intended to support the pillars of the transformation of secondary health efforts for public access to quality health services.

"This visit is very strategic, which also results in other opportunities for cooperation in the health sector, such as in the development of diagnostic methods, and other health services," he said.

The Indonesian health cooperation - RRT is a follow-up to the extension of the Health MoU which was signed by the two Ministers in a circular manner in Jakarta and Beijing on November 16, 2022, as well as the RI-RT Vaccine and Genomika MoU which was signed on July 26, 2022.

In the G20 Bali Leader's Meeting November 2022, Indonesia together with RRT and other G20 countries have committed to strengthening global health architecture in recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic.

In addition, the Government of Indonesia and the Government of RRT have also made joint statements to further encourage cooperation in vaccines throughout the industrial chain.

At the regional level, Indonesia as Chair of ASEAN must promote One Health Approach as a continuation of the Joint Statement of the ASEAN and Chinese Health Ministers Meeting which was agreed in Bali 2023.

"We hope that the RRT can support ASEAN in promoting the One Health Approach Mechanism initiated by Indonesia," he said.