WNAM REPORT: Indonesia as OIC Center of Excellence on Vaccines and Biotechnology Products Holds Training for OIC Researchers
Within July 2024, the Government of the Republic of Indonesia in collaboration with the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) Standing Committee on Scientific and Technological Cooperation (COMSTECH) based in Islamabad will hold the 3rd Batch of Indonesia-COMSTECH Fellowship Program for Research and Advanced Training in Virology and Vaccine Technologies, in three Indonesian cities of Jakarta, Bogor, and Bandung. The participating researchers are from Cameroon, Egypt, Kazakhstan, Malaysia, Pakistan, Somalia, Tanzania, and Uganda.
The Indonesia-COMSTECH Fellowship Program was initiated by the Embassy of the Republic of Indonesia in Islamabad during the COVID-19 Pandemic, to seek mutual solution for Islamic Countries amid lack of global vaccines supply.
Prior to the Training, the Workshop was also held in hybrid, attended by more than 400 participants including 12 researchers of the Training, Ambassadors, Indonesian high rank officials, and the relevant stakeholders. The Workshop focused on discussion about the future of vaccine cooperation among countries and its potentials to provide equal access and more protection to the global community.
In his opening remarks, the Indonesian Minister of Health, H.E. Mr. Budi G. Sadikin, highlighted how Indonesia seriously learned from the COVID-19 Pandemic that adversely affected Indonesia due to inaccessible vaccines despite having enough financial resources. Referring Indonesia’s experience in overcoming the Pandemic, he invited all of the OIC Member States to support the vaccine manufacture cooperation initiative, while in parallel bolstering their capabilities of research and development for vaccines production.
“It is not (only) scientifically wrong, you presume that you can fix the global pandemic by only fixing your own country, but it is also ethically wrong. So, I strongly support the initiatives to have this vaccines cooperation among Islamic countries,” he said in the opening ceremony of the Training (1/7). He further underlined that vaccines, diagnostic tools, and medicines should be readily available and accessible to all countries at a reasonable price.
The Indonesia-COMSTECH Fellowship Program is expected to benefit the healthcare personnels and early-stage researchers, as well as to provide the most feasible ways in reducing healthcare costs and the pharmacoeconomic burden among OIC States. The participants of the Training are also expected to proactively contribute to their respective countries in manufacturing and producing safe, effective, accessible, as well as affordable vaccines and biotechnology products to tackle any possible pandemic in the future.
To advance cooperation in the fields of science and technology, the Embassy of the Republic of Indonesia in Islamabad has collaborative events and programs with the COMSTECH. Previously in June 2024, both sides jointly hosted the international seminar on “Sustainability of Palm Oil Industry and its Derivative Products”, to raise more awareness of the Pakistani public, business communities, and relevant authorities on the scientific benefits of palm oil.
Currently, the Indonesian Embassy and COMSTECH are working to co-organize an exhibition on nutraceuticals and cosmetics made with natural and halal ingredients later this year.
