The Indonesian Health Ministry recently signed eight bilateral agreements with other countries to promote the health transformation, according to the country's Health Minister Budi Gunadi Sadikin.

Illustrative photo (Source: ANTARA)

The country reached the first deal with the Republic of Korea at the second G20 Health Ministerial Meeting in Bali on October 27–28, on the expansion of medical services and the cooperation in the pharmaceuticals sector and hospitals.

In the framework of the second agreement, Indonesia agrees to exchange information with South Africa on how to improve mRNA and genomics, the minister said.

In the third agreement, Saudi Arabia will grant 5 million USD for meningitis medicines and vaccines for Hajj and Umrah travelers, while the United Arab Emirates agrees to provide 10 million USD for tuberculosis control.

The fourth agreement covers study of potential collaboration between Indonesia and Spain.

Under the fifth one, Indonesia is to receive support from the Netherlands to enhance its capacity related to VTD and receive knowledge in drug management and supervision. Indonesia was invited to be the co-chair of the World Local Production Forum in 2023 by the Netherlands.

The sixth one is with Germany regarding a nurse training programme to increase Indonesian nurses working in Germany.

The seventh one pertains to cooperation with the United States through the exploration of a ARPA-H research centre under the coordination of the US National Institute of Health (NIH), and sponsorship for cooperation between hospitals of the two sides.

Finally, under the eighth agreement, Indonesia and Brazil will collaborate on vaccines, surveillance of infectious diseases and the handling of arboviruses, as well as efforts to reduce malaria.

Source: VNA