Indonesia Pledges US$5 Million In Support For Pandemic-Busting Plan

By Mohd Iswandi Kasan Anuar JAKARTA, March 11 (Bernama) -- Indonesia has contributed US$5 million to the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (CEPI) to help the organisation’s ambitious plan to tackle pandemics and epidemics. Indonesian Health Minister Budi G. Sadikin said the financial commitment is in line with the country's efforts to strengthen global health architecture, which is one of Indonesia's priorities under its leadership of the G20. "We believe that we have to work together, and Indonesia is ready to commit to CEPI," he said in a statement Friday. “Our commitment to the greater good, to leave no one behind, and to better prepare the world against the next pandemic begins now.” Major donors contributed a total of US$1.5 billion to the CEPI's at the two-day Global Pandemic Preparedness Summit in London ended March 8. The United Kingdom, Japan, Norway, the United States, Germany, Australia, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and Wellcome Trust were some of the largest donors. CEPI is an innovative partnership between public, private, philanthropic, and civil organisations, launched at Davos in 2017. It aims to have safe and effective vaccines within 100 days of the identification of a pandemic or epidemic threat and boost vaccine manufacturing. -- BERNAMA