We can start from the G20. That way it will facilitate the adoption of this health protocol standard in other countries
Health Minister Budi Gunadi Sadikin has said that the synchronization of global health protocols could begin with G20 countries to enable smoother application and make international travel easier.
"We can start from the G20. That way it will facilitate the adoption of this health protocol standard in other countries," Minister Sadikin said during a G20 Health Working Group press conference on 'Harmonizing Global Health Protocol Standards' in Yogyakarta on Monday.
The measure is aimed at ensuring that there are unified standards with regard to regulations on PCR tests and quarantine, among others, which differ from country to country currently.
The minister said that health protocol standards for international travel can be changed, just like the global immigration system.
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He further said he is confident that the adoption of global health protocol standards can be achieved given the current state of digital technology development.
So far, Indonesia has held bilateral discussions with Saudi Arabia to integrate PeduliLindungi with the Tawakkalna application.
Indonesia has also held discussions with ASEAN Communities and a number of European countries to integrate the PeduliLindungi application so the same regulatory standards on PCR, quarantine, and others can be applied.
That way, people can still travel around the world while adopting a healthy and cautious approach, he opined.
According to Digital Health Technology Unit head of the World Health Organization, Garret Mehl, it is possible to integrate digital health document applications.
"I might call it a health card in digital format. We could see a digital version of a vaccination card or a lab test result card, and ideally, it would be something that would be worth using if there was another pandemic," he said.
Thus, an equal technological infrastructure would be important in every country, as a digital-based health record, he added.
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