7 G20 Countries Collaborate to Achieve Equitable Research and Pharmaceutical Manufacturing

JAKARTA - The spokesperson for the G20 Indonesia, Siti Nadia Tarmizi, said that as many as seven G20 countries are interested in collaborating to create an equitable distribution of pharmaceutical research and manufacturing centers, especially to southern hemisphere countries.

"The G20 is committed to pushing research and manufacturing centers, which are now concentrated in the northern hemisphere, towards the southern hemisphere", said Siti Nadia Tarmizi at a press conference on the Road To 2nd HMM network, reported by ANTARA, Friday, October 21.

Nadia said that from a total of 19 G20 member countries, seven of them have expressed interest in collaborating for equitable access to research and manufacturing centers globally.

The seven countries in question are Argentina, Brazil, India, Indonesia, Saudi Arabia, Turkey, and South Africa.

According to Nadia, the G20 is committed to expanding its manufacturing network and research cooperation through the establishment of a wider vaccine and drug hub, especially to countries in the southern hemisphere.

"Access to vaccines and diagnostic tools for low-income countries needs to be created equally, as well as independence for middle-income countries like Indonesia so that they can participate in strengthening health defense at the global level", she said.

According to Nadia, the final agreement related to the distribution of global pharmaceutical research and manufacturing centers was raised on the agenda of the 2nd Health Ministers Meeting on October 27-28, 2022 in Bali.

Nadia hopes that the forum can encourage other countries to contribute to the wider equal distribution of global health access.