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Indonesia’s G20 presidency paves the way for global health security
For too long, the approach to pandemics has been one of panic and neglect: throwing resources at the problem when a serious outbreak occurs, then neglecting the existing protocols and plans when the news continues to make headlines.
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People with disabilities wait for their turn to be vaccinated at Grab Vaccine Center Yogyakarta. (Courtesy of Grab)
The Group of 20 Leaders Summit in Bali is drawing near. It will be the pinnacle of the G20 process and intense work carried out within the ministerial meetings, working groups and engagement groups throughout the year. Health is one of the priority issues under Indonesia’s G20 presidency.
In this regard, the second Health Ministers Meeting (HMM) of the G20 Indonesian presidency will be held on Oct. 27-28 in Bali. It is hoped the meeting will result in the G20 Health Ministers' Action to Strengthen Global Health Architecture to perform better global health security.
Such architecture is pertinent considering that infectious disease outbreaks and other emerging global health threats are occurring with increasing frequency and severity. Factors such as globalization, urbanization, climate change and the ease of travel and trade mean that dangerous pathogens are more easily transported and spread across the world, irrespective of national boundaries.
COVID-19 and other pandemics, as well as numerous other outbreaks, have already occurred, thousands of lives have been lost and billions of dollars of national income wiped out. Large epidemics have a health, economic and social impact. The health aspect includes disease, death and long-term sequelae. The economic impact can cover loss of productivity, the cost of response and recovery and loss from travel/trade bans, etc.
In this regard, the disruption of social life can also happen, so can social stigma with its wide-ranging impacts.
We hope the world can stand safe and secure from global health threats posed by infectious diseases. This means we must prevent or mitigate the impact of natural outbreaks and accidental or intentional releases of dangerous pathogens, rapidly detect and transparently report outbreaks when they occur, employ an interconnected global network that can respond effectively to limit the spread of infectious disease outbreaks in humans and animals, mitigate human suffering and the loss of human life and reduce the economic impact.
For too long the approach to pandemics has been one of panic and neglect: throwing resources at the problem when a serious outbreak occurs, then relatively neglecting the world’s pre-organized preparedness when the news continues to make headlines. The result has been too many lives lost and too much damage to human livelihoods.
