JAKARTA, June 24 (Xinhua) -- Indonesia is working to strengthen its national and regional ecosystem for medicines, vaccines, and diagnostics to improve pandemic preparedness, Health Minister Budi Gunadi Sadikin said Wednesday.
Budi made the remarks after attending a high-level forum on building regional and global health resilience in ASEAN, saying countries with large populations need stronger health systems to withstand future pandemics.
He said health technologies should not be monopolized, but shared with neighboring countries so they can better protect their people during health crises.
Budi also called for stronger downstream development in the health sector, saying many health products purchased in Indonesia are still imported and should be produced domestically to support economic growth. ■