The Ministry of Health continued the series of health meetings at the G20 with the 3rd Health Working Group (HWG) agenda held on August 22-23, 2022 in Bali with the theme "Expanding global manufacturing and research hubs for pandemic, prevention, preparedness, and response,".

The activity, which was officially opened by the Indonesian Minister of Health Budi Gunadi Sadikin and carried out in a hybrid manner, is a global joint effort in prevention, preparedness and response in the face of an impending pandemic.

Throughout this year, the G20 has been discussing ways in which the global health architecture can be strengthened, with 3 main agenda items being Strengthening the Resilience of the Global Health System, Harmonizing Global Health Protocol Standards, and Expanding Global Manufacturing and Research Centers for the Prevention, Preparedness, and Response to the upcoming pandemic.

The three main outputs of the 3rd HWG are; First, to establish vaccine, therapeutic, and diagnostic device (VTD) manufacturing centers and collaborative research centers to support the development and strengthening of research-driven VTD manufacturing capacity in Low Middle Income Countries (LMICs) to develop, enhance, and strengthen research and manufacturing capacity.

Second, to share mechanisms and harmonize regulations to facilitate the process of global capacity building to ensure accelerated availability of VTDs during public health emergencies.

Third, to come up with agreeable principles on the establishment of a VTD Multicenter Clinical Trial collaboration to support Collaborative Manufacturing and Research Centers among G20 countries for pandemic prevention, preparedness and response efforts.

The Minister of Health said that what was voiced through this 3rd HWG meeting was equality, namely the principles of equality in research and production. Because when this pandemic occurs, if we do not have equal capacity throughout the world, the pandemic will not be resolved.

"So the concept is that all human beings in Indonesia must be treated, or the principle is a one for all, all for one pandemic. That is our main point that we want to convey, so if we have research capacity and manufacturing capacity, access can be done by other countries, because it is impossible for one country to solve a pandemic that is global in nature because transmission occurs across countries," said the Minister of Health.

Director General of Pharmaceuticals and Medical Devices L. Rizka Andalucia as Chairperson of the 3rd Health Working Group Meeting (HWG 3) said many delegates stated that the support of international organizations is very important in improving research and manufacturing capacity during a pandemic.

Some of the potential collaborations that have been identified in the G20 meeting include cooperation with global biomanufacturing training centers for capacity building related to manufacturing and research, collaborative research efforts, research data sharing, public-private partnerships for research and manufacturing ecosystems.

He acknowledged the readiness of Argentina, Brazil, India, South Africa, Saudi Arabia, and Turkey together with Indonesia, and invited other G20 countries and international organizations to join and actively participate in this partnership.

Furthermore, the Director General said that one of the efforts that require global support from international organizations is related to the 100-day vaccine preparedness mission which includes coordination of funding and technology transfer between countries, but it is not only vaccine preparedness that must be carried out but preparedness that includes diagnostic tools, therapeutic measures, and connects it with One Health as a form of sustainable mission beyond the first 100 days.

A more detailed discussion on enhancing research and manufacturing capacity related to vaccines, therapeutics and diagnostics will be conducted at a technical meeting prior to the 2nd G20 health ministers meeting (HMM) in October 2022.