FIND and Republic of Indonesia Ministry of Health ink partnership to drive access to essential diagnostic tests

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• Strategic collaboration focuses on strengthening primary care in Indonesia through improved access and use of quality diagnostic tools, enhanced local manufacturing, and sustainable domestic investments in testing, to close diagnostic gaps and build resilience into the country’s health system
• Particular emphasis is placed on synergies between diagnostics, digital health solutions, and initiatives to tackle tuberculosis and antimicrobial resistance

GENEVA, SWITZERLAND & JAKARTA, INDONESIA – 2 February 2023. FIND and Kementerian Kesehatan Republik Indonesia (Ministry of Health of the Republic of Indonesia; MoH) today announced that a formal memorandum of understanding (MOU) has been signed for a strategic collaboration that will expand access to essential diagnostics in the country. The partnership will focus on diagnostic testing to strengthen primary care and boost health system resilience in the country, building on the great strides already made to achieve universal health coverage – health for all – and to enhance health security.

Indonesia’s 2022 G20 Presidency, themed Recover Together, Recover Stronger, centred around global health and mobilized action to overcome pandemic-related challenges. Now, the Indonesian government intends to use the lessons learned from COVID-19 to drive change and increase the resilience of the country’s health system.

Diagnostic testing is the cornerstone of sustainable, resilient health systems, enabling people to be linked to quality care or preventive treatments as quickly as possible, as well as providing health systems with the ability to monitor and manage ongoing health threats such as tuberculosis, and rapidly detect and respond to emerging health threats, such as disease outbreaks and antimicrobial resistance (AMR).

The MOU with FIND fits into the wider scope of Indonesia’s ambitious healthcare transformation plan, which was launched in 2020 and aims to provide quality primary care to over 270 million Indonesians by 2024. To help close critical gaps in diagnostic testing, particularly in primary care where the need is greatest, FIND will support Indonesia in building testing capacity through initiatives including the implementation of essential diagnostics, and helping to introduce new point-of-care diagnostic tools that can be used in community settings.

The partnership will also support Indonesia’s commitment to accelerate digital health transformation, such as through the implementation of strong, interconnected health data management systems that provide actionable data for integrated patient care and disease surveillance. FIND and the MoH will work together to facilitate policy development and capacity building for the evaluation and regulation of new digital tools.

Working to contain the specific threat of AMR, FIND will support the MoH with the implementation of diagnostics and digital solutions that can minimize the inappropriate use of antibiotics and help address AMR in primary care as well as in hospitals. AMR surveillance initiatives will also be bolstered.

Alongside these endeavours, the collaboration will assist Indonesia to grow the country’s own ability to develop, produce and deliver high-quality, affordable diagnostic tests that meet regional health needs. By fostering technology transfers and providing technical assistance to local manufacturers for quality systems, regulatory authorization, and market entry, FIND will support Indonesia to build better capacity to respond to current and future health threats in Indonesia and regionally.

Bill Rodriguez, CEO of FIND, said: “Indonesia has long demonstrated great leadership and unwavering commitment in healthcare, and the foundations laid by the country’s G20 Presidency agenda have helped the whole world navigate the COVID-19 pandemic. The collaboration we are announcing today recognizes the critical role of diagnostic testing in ensuring health, and health security, for everyone. We thank the Government of Indonesia deeply for their commitment and partnership.”

Budi G. Sadikin, Minister of Health, Indonesia, said: “In our mission to transform Indonesia’s health system to become more resilient, we believe access to quality diagnostic testing is important to improve and protect public health, empower communities, and address the inequities that exist widely especially from the last pandemic. At global and regional levels, we led this issue through the Indonesia G20 Presidency in 2022, and we will continue to escalate this through the Indonesia ASEAN Chairmanship this year. We found FIND as an important partner on achieving goals of this mission, and we are eager to cooperate further in developing a strategic approach with improved access to such cutting-edge diagnostic and digital tools.”

The MOU between FIND and the Indonesia MoH came into effect on 30 January 2023 and has a duration of 3 years.

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About FIND
FIND, the global alliance for diagnostics, seeks to ensure equitable access to reliable diagnosis around the world. We connect countries and communities, funders, decision-makers, healthcare providers and developers to spur diagnostic innovation and make testing an integral part of sustainable, resilient health systems. We are co-convener of the Access to COVID-19 Tools (ACT) Accelerator diagnostics pillar, and a WHO Collaborating Centre for Laboratory Strengthening and Diagnostic Technology Evaluation. Founded in Geneva, Switzerland, in 2003, we have regional hubs in Kenya, India, South Africa and Viet Nam. With partners across the public and private sectors, we are working to make sure that everyone who needs a test can get one. For more information, please visit www.finddx.org.

Media contacts

Sarah-Jane Loveday, Director, Communications, FIND
M: +41 79 431 62 44
media@finddx.org

Bureau of Communication and Public Services, Ministry of Health, Republic of Indonesia
Halo Kemkes hotline number 1500-567, SMS 081281562620, facsimile (021) 5223002, 52921669
kontak@kemkes.go.id