July 2, 2025
Indonesia to be vaccinable by 2037, says Minister of Health

Indonesia to be vaccinable by 2037, says Minister of Health

The United Kingdom has just announced a real conditions of 40 percent that invest its financing for Gavi, the global vaccine alliance, but Indonesia and many other developing countries – and in many ways it should be.

In an exclusive interview with the Telegraph, Budi Gunadi Sadikin, Indonesian Minister of Health, said he had the goal of making the country “self -sufficient” in vaccine production by 2037.

The lesson of the Covid pandemic was that no large country, including Great Britain, could rely on others in a global emergency of health, he said.

“Every country with a very large population, they must have its own vaccine [production] For health security, for the resistance of the health system, ”he said.

He remembered that Indonesia and Great Britain had left for Covid vaccines on India, only to block exports when the demand in India increased, he added: “We cannot put the life of 280 million Indonesians in danger by depending on other countries than the next pandemic takes place.”

Mr. Sadikin, a former banker with a feeling of real policy, which is rare in global health, emphasized that he had not dismissed cooperation with other countries or blamed India, but rather emphasized the importance of national autonomy and self -confidence.

“Everyone wants to protect their own people, which is understandable,” he said. “If you are a politician in India, you will force two billion people to do so. It is understood democratically.”

Budi Gunadi Sadikin, Indonesian Minister of HealthBudi Gunadi Sadikin, Indonesian Minister of Health

Budi Gunadi Sadikin, Indonesian Minister of Health – East Ventures

According to India and China, Indonesia is the largest economy in Southeast Asia and the third -determined country in the world. It is currently classified as a “upper income” and will be predicted as the fourth largest economy in the world by 2045.

Already with regard to GDP -Kauf -power parity – three sprouts in front of Great Britain – it is seventh place and showed that more people in Indonesia “thrive” than in any other country in the world.

Last week, Mr. Sadikin organized a summit in Bali, on which the managers of the healthcare system planned a way to global elimination of cervical cancer – the first cancer that probably succumbs to a vaccine.

The aim of the global WHO initiative of WHO -Cancer Cancer is to wipe out the disease through a strategy that focuses on vaccinations, screening and treatment.

Mr. Sadikin said that after breast cancer after breast cancer, the second most common cancer in women in Indonesia still kills around 60,000 women a year or “one death every 35 minutes”.

The national plans for the state of the country’s elimination in 2023 have already achieved over 90 percent HPV vaccination rates for girls as part of a school program. The country now also provides the JAB for women aged 21 to 26 who missed it.

Mr. Sadikin said that an increased availability of the vaccine, which until recently was limited by supply and dosage restrictions- would also be extended to boys in Indonesia to protect against HPV-related head, neck and neck cancer.

He added that the HPV vaccination in Indonesia, a majority Muslim country, had little or no apartment.

“Indonesian women are very receptive compared to other vaccinations, very receptive,” he said.

“My observation, my first hypothesis, is that you know that it can save your life. Second, the vaccines were available beforehand, but it was very expensive.” He added a feeling of “Fomo” or fear to miss it.

The Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto speaks during the inauguration of the Sanur Health Special Economic Zone (SEZ) in Denpasar, Bali, Indonesia, June 25, 2025The Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto speaks during the inauguration of the Sanur Health Special Economic Zone (SEZ) in Denpasar, Bali, Indonesia, June 25, 2025

The Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto speaks about the inauguration of the first health -oriented special economic zone of the state – Nagi/EPA/Shutterstock

Indonesia is also preparing to become a regional vaccine superpower and now has three domestic manufacturers.

The largest company, biofarma, produces vaccines against measles, polio and hepatitis B and will soon become an important supplier of HPV vaccines via a technology transmission contract with MSD, the international arm of Merck,.

Biofarma also makes antivenomes for snake bite. Snakes like Pit vipers and Cobras are common on many of the 17,500 islands in the Indonesian archipelago.

“MSD is deeply committed to the global elimination of cervical cancer and the prevention of certain other HPV cancer, including in countries with low and medium income in which the stress is highest,” said Dr. Priya Agrawal from MSD.

“The technology transmission with MSD for HPV vaccines enabled us to produce our own vaccines for our own country,” added Shadiq Akasya, CEO from Biofarma. “This will save many lives, accelerate the elimination of cervical cancer and support the goals of national health security.”

Increase a “heavenly investment”

Mr. Sadikin put the position of Indonesia at the top of the “flourishing” league on the relaxed character and the pace of life, for which places like Bali are famous.

“We are still working pretty hard, but we are not as ambitious and determined and greedy for money like some,” he said. “We are very relaxed, we are satisfied with what we have.”

Mr. Sadikin, who is religious, has a relaxed style, but is not a slouch. He made luck in banking and now says he is devoting himself to health.

“I have more than enough earthly investments, but I don’t have enough heavenly investments,” he said. “If I save 60,000 women from cervical cancer, God will definitely remember it. It is my dividend, my deposit, for life after death.”

The skills that Mr. Sadikin has experienced as a banker are now in great demand in the field of global health because the international aid budgets are reduced.

You are skills that make him popular throughout the sector – maybe popular enough to arrange him for the next WHO general director, as Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus resigned in two years.

“In the past, you can easily check whether our enemy, who kills most people, is the pathogen,” he said. And the trick of collecting money for health was to “establish the right investment case”.

“My advice to all health ministers, my colleagues, is that a lot of money floats around the world. You just need to know where you can knock on the door.”

He added: “If global health needs more finances like me – people who can help political managers not use their money to kill things, but to buy goods to save people, then I can be pretty good at selling this concept.”

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