Topic:
Country: Indonesia
Delegate Name: KenZie Low
World Health Organization
Expanding Access To Medical Resources
Republic of Indonesia
KenZie Low
Forest Hills Eastern
Promoting health and well-being is crucial for human society. The UN recognizes this as they included it in their seventeen Sustainable Development Goals. SDG 3 ensures healthy lives and promotes well-being for all at all ages. Target 3.8 asks for international support to achieve universal health coverage. Universal healthcare coverage ensures that people have timely access to affordable, safe, and effective healthcare services. For these goals to be achieved, everyone must have access to basic healthcare and a safe environment where seeking help is embraced. However, the World Health Organization estimates at least 400 million people do not have access to essential health care, and 10% of medicines in low to middle-income countries are falsified. The Covid-19 pandemic also revealed major flaws in global health care. Major Covid-19 vaccine producers patented their vaccines, resulting in the suffering of many undeveloped countries. The UN proposes that “by focusing on providing more efficient funding of health systems, improved sanitation, and hygiene, and increased access to physicians, significant progress can be made in helping to save the lives of millions.” Specifically, Indonesia is striving to improve healthcare on a national level. Being the fourth most populous country and consisting of hundreds of islands, Indonesia faces unique challenges when expanding its healthcare and resources to its citizens.
Indonesia has a modest healthcare system. Nonetheless, the country’s healthcare is rapidly improving. The country strives to achieve universal healthcare and by doing so created JKN in 2014. JKN is a national public healthcare insurance scheme presumed to cover all Indonesians in the future. In 2019, the program covered 84% of the Indonesian population. If the project succeeds, Indonesia is speculated to have one of the best healthcare systems in the world. Indonesia has also built about 2,522 Puskemas (government-mandated clinics) as of 2021. These facilities provide basic healthcare. The government has also asked for private involvement. Siloam Hospitals, a medical laboratory company, operated thirty-six state-of-the-art hospitals as of 2019. In 2017, Indonesia was established as a base for vaccine manufacturing. During the Covid Pandemic, Indonesia was one of the five countries to be selected to be a recipient of mRNA vaccine technology transfer. This means a middle-income country such as Indonesia could produce mRNA vaccines. Indonesia is also looking to digitize its healthcare to collect diagnostics and make healthcare more accessible. With the rapidly growing healthcare system, however, counterfeit medicines are still commonplace in Indonesia. To combat this, in 2020, the Ministry of Health launched regulations to control online pharmacies and reduce fake medicines. Indonesia has developed well on a national level, the country also contributes to the insufficient healthcare crisis on an international scale. Indonesian Minister of Health Budi Gunadi Sadikin acknowledged that the Covid-19 pandemic revealed critical gaps in global response capability. Therefore, in June 2022, Indonesia proposed a plan for a new agency that would combat insufficient global health care. Indonesia created a Financial Intermediary Fund (FIF) along with the G20 countries to strengthen the resilience of global health frameworks. Indonesia donated about $50 million to the FIF. The new agency also aims to standardize global protocols and boost the manufacturing capacity of relevant pharmacies and medical devices globally.
Indonesian Minister of Health Sadikin urges that countries donate to the FIF to strengthen the global healthcare system. Indonesia wishes to use this funding effectively to improve pandemic prevention, preparedness, and response. Indonesia also emphasizes the importance of sharing data on pathogens that have pandemic potential so the global healthcare system can better withstand pandemics. Specifically, G20 countries must unite and gather diagnostics and prevent the next pandemic. Indonesian G20 Presidency’s Health spokesperson Tarmizi encourages building collaborative networks among countries about the global health community. Additionally, Indonesia urges strengthening global health architecture by building the coordinating role of WHO as a global health institution. Indonesia is projected to have growth in its healthcare system and can begin to help the global healthcare community.
