Indonesia's preparation, prevention and response to the upcoming pandemic as well as strengthening the resilience of the pharmaceutical supply chain system need special attention.

At the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, Indonesia experienced difficulties in accessing medicinal products and medicinal raw materials due to lockdown policies implemented by countries to anticipate the impact of the spread of COVID-19, restrictions on the movement of goods and people, as well as export restrictions from global producers of medicinal raw materials, namely China and India, due to an increase in drug demand.

In an effort to increase the resilience of the pharmaceutical supply chain system in Indonesia, the Ministry of Health has launched the transformation of the health resilience system, with a target of local production of 14 program vaccines and top 10 drugs by 2024.

In addition, the strengthening of local production of essential medicines including blood products, other biological products, as well as phytopharmaceuticals and standardized herbal medicines (OHT) in the context of developing and utilizing Indonesia's natural resources through the application of evidence-based medicine is also being encouraged to be developed and increased its use in the country.

To support this, the Government has prepared fiscal and non-fiscal incentive schemes that can be utilized by the industry both in order to support research activities and investment to improve the infrastructure of the Indonesian pharmaceutical industry. The Government also strives to build a conducive business climate by prioritizing the use of domestic products as a form of partiality and market certainty for the industry. Located in Jakarta on 22 November 2022, the Directorate General of Pharmaceuticals and Medical Devices through the Directorate of Pharmaceutical Production and Distribution held a Capacity Building Workshop for Technical Person in Charge of Production Facilities for Drugs, Traditional Medicines and Cosmetics as a form of comprehensive guidance from the Ministry of Health.

In his report, Director of Pharmaceutical Production and Distribution Agusdini Banun Saptaningsih said that this activity was carried out online through the zoom meeting application and offline which was attended by 50 Technical Responsible Persons from the pharmaceutical industry, traditional medicine industry and business, cosmetics industry as participants, resource persons, moderators, heads of professional organizations and leaders of industry associations, and representatives of the Ministry of Health.

“This meeting was held as an effort to increase the competitiveness of drugs, traditional medicines and cosmetics through increasing the capacity of technical persons in charge of drug production facilities, traditional medicines and cosmetics, especially in ensuring the safety, efficacy and quality of pharmaceutical preparations produced,” said the Director.

Director General of Pharmaceutical and Health Services L. Rizka Andalucia had the opportunity to open this activity virtually, saying that the growth and improvement of the pharmaceutical preparation industry must pay attention to the application of standards to ensure the safety, efficacy and quality aspects of pharmaceutical preparations produced. “By applying these aspects, it is hoped that the products produced will remain consistent, so that public health is maintained. The technical person in charge of drug, traditional medicine and cosmetics production facilities plays an important role in producing pharmaceutical preparations that are safe, efficacious and of high quality,” said the Director General.