The 2nd Joint Finance and Health Ministers’ Meeting (JFHMM) led by Minister of Finance Sri Mulyani Indrawati and Minister of Health Budi Gunadi Sadikin, and held under the Indonesian G20 Presidency in Bali on Saturday, affirmed commitment to strengthen global health architecture.

Ministers of finance and health ministers of G20 member countries, invitees, and international organizations discussed and requested updates on the progress of the Financial Intermediary Fund for Pandemic Preparedness, Prevention and Response (the ‘Pandemic Fund’); and  on development of coordination arrangements between Finance and Health for pandemic Preparedness, Prevention, and Response (PPR).

“We discussed how best to take forward the work on Finance and Health coordination arrangements, including whether to expand the scope of the Finance-Health Task Force to a three-year time horizon and what its key objectives should be for 2023,” Mulyani said in a press statement issued on Sunday.

Strengthening the Global Health Architecture is a crucial priority for the Indonesian G20 Presidency.

It is urgently needed to ensure that national, regional, and global health systems can anticipate future pandemics better.

In that Meeting, the Ministers of Finance and Health listened to an update on the development of the Pandemic Fund by the co-chairs of the Governing Board, Chatib Basri from Indonesia, and Health Minister of Rwanda Daniel Ngamije.

In addition, they provided strategic guidance for the Pandemic Fund’s funding priorities.

Gunadi also mentioned the pandemic fund will provide financing for pandemic PPR capacity by addressing gaps according to International Health Regulation standards.

“The cooperation between the G20 finance and health today, I believe, has served this purpose indeed— the cooperation that brings us from crisis to peace, from trauma to triumph, from calamity to recovery, from sickness and poverty to wellness and prosperity,” Gunadi said.

In 2023, the Task Force will continue to be co-chaired by Indonesia and Italy, representing developing and developed economic perspectives, and will continue to leverage expertise and synergize with WHO, International Financial Institutions, and other relevant organizations, with support from India as the G20 Presidency in 2023.

Source: Antara News