Indonesia's G20 Presidency to prioritize world health architecture

Jakarta (ANTARA) - The global health architecture is one of the priorities of Indonesia's G20 Presidency in 2022, Foreign Minister Retno Marsudi has said.

"Indonesia's G20 Presidency is also expected to be a catalyst for global economic recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic," she said in her annual press statement, accessed from Jakarta on Thursday.

"This is one of Indonesia's three focuses besides energy transition and digital transformation for its G20 Presidency," she said.

Indonesia wants G20 to be a catalyst for global recovery and concrete cooperation that benefits developing nations, she said.

The minister further highlighted unequal access to COVID-19 vaccines. According to data from the World Health Organization (WHO), 41 countries currently have a COVID-19 vaccination coverage of less than 10 percent and 98 countries have vaccination coverage of less than 40 percent, she noted.

Indonesia will continue to seek equal access to COVID-19 vaccines for all countries through the COVAX facility, she informed.

"The pandemic has taught us to improve national and global health resilience. Long-term cooperation is needed to strengthen national health infrastructures and health industry, including medicine and vaccine producers," she added. (*)