Visit Jokowi, Director General Of WHO Appreciates Indonesia's Achievement In Handling The COVID-19 Pandemic

WHO Director General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus met President Jokowi Tuesday, June 21. (Between)

JAKARTA - The Director-General of the World Health Organization (WHO), Tedros Adhanom, Ghebreyesus congratulated President Joko Widodo (Jokowi) on Indonesia's achievements in dealing with the COVID-19 pandemic.

According to Minister of Foreign Affairs, Retno Marsudi, who accompanied Jokowi, appreciation for the handling of the COVID-19 pandemic in Indonesia was one of the discussions when the WHO Director-General visited the State Palace, Jakarta, Tuesday, June 21.

"The WHO Director General also conveys congratulations, congratulations, appreciation for Indonesia's achievements in overcoming or managing COVID-19," said Retno after the meeting which was broadcast on the Presidential Secretariat's official YouTube channel.

Regarding the COVID-19 vaccination, the meeting was also discussed, where the Foreign Minister revealed that the Director General of WHO praised Indonesia's level of achievement in COVID-19 vaccination compared to other countries.

"He said that Indonesia is one of the best achievements when compared to the average achievement achieved by countries in the world," She said.

The WHO Director General also said that his party was still monitoring the development of the COVID-19 situation, even though the number of cases in the world had begun to level off.

"However, he stated that the pandemic was not over. WHO is still monitoring the emergence of new variants," said the Foreign Minister.

In Indonesia, the presence of the Omicron BA.4 and BA.5 variants made the daily increase of cases above 1,000 cases per day last for six consecutive days. Data from the Task Force for Handling COVID-19 as of Monday, June 20, at 12.00 WIB, there were 1,180 daily cases of COVID-19 recorded.

The Minister of Foreign Affairs said that the Director General of WHO appreciated the implementation of the family health care system and the mandatory health insurance in Indonesia.

The Director General of WHO also appreciated Indonesia's leadership in the G20, moreover, one of the focuses of Indonesia's G20 presidency is strengthening the global health architecture.

Before visiting President Jokowi, the WHO Director-General previously attended the first G20 Health Ministers Meeting (HMM) in Yogyakarta, Monday 20 June.

Apart from Foreign Minister Retno, accompanying President Jokowi in receiving the visit of the Director-General of WHO was Minister of Health, Budi Gunadi Sadikin.