The UK and Indonesia announces MoU on Health Cooperation and a Grant Agreement on Antimicrobial Resistance Surveillance

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The UK and Indonesia have signed a Memorandum of Understanding on health cooperation and its Joint Action Plan. The two countries have also signed a Grant Agreement for the Fleming Fund partnership on antimicrobial resistance (AMR) surveillance in Indonesia.

The Department of Health and Social Care of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland (DHSC) and The Ministry of Health of the Republic of Indonesia (MoH) have held an online ceremony to sign a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on Health Cooperation and a Grant Agreement on antimicrobial resistance surveillance in Indonesia, on Monday, 22 June 2020. The agreement establishes a cooperation framework between the UK and Indonesia to share knowledge and expertise on the development of the health sector in both countries.

The MoU will be focusing on areas of cooperation such as healthcare services, disease prevention and control, health technology and medical devices, human resources for health development, and health research and development.

Agreed activities for collaboration under this MoU include digital health services and community-based telemedicine cooperation, plus information sharing on infectious diseases in hospitals (such as COVID-19). Further cooperation will be listed in a Joint Action Plan of the Implementation of the MoU that was also signed on Monday.

This MoU is signed by Lord Bethell, the Parliamentary Under Secretary of State at DHSC in London and Indonesia’s Minister of Health Lieut Gen (Ret) Terawan Agus Putranto, MD, Ph.D in Jakarta.

Additionally, the two countries also signed a grant agreement for the Fleming Fund partnership for AMR surveillance in Indonesia for human health, worth £4.8 million. The Fleming Fund Grants Programme aims to support partner countries to generate, share and use data on AMR, to improve understanding and encourage action against drug-resistance at a national and international level.

This grant agreement is the first of three with Indonesian ministries that will support Indonesia to improve AMR surveillance and generate data on AMR to inform policy and practice. In Indonesia, the Fleming Fund is committed to develop laboratory capacity, and will be supporting up to 10 Indonesian scientists, researchers and clinicians as part of the Fleming Fund Fellowship Scheme.

The Ministry of Health of the Republic of Indonesia will work together across all ministerial stakeholders such as the Ministry of Agriculture, the Ministry of Maritime Affairs and Fisheries, the Ministry of Environment, Forest, and Climate Change, the Indonesia Food and Drug Administration, and the National Antimicrobial Resistance Control Committee to implement all the project activities agreed in the work plan of the Fleming Fund programme on AMR.

The Fleming Fund Country Grant was awarded to DAI as the grantee while the Erasmus University Medical Centre was appointed as the host institution overseeing the Fleming Fund Fellows in Indonesia. Both DAI and Erasmus University Medical Centre were appointed following a competitive tender process.

Indonesia’s Minister of Health Dr. Terawan, said:

“Today is a memorable day in the history of health cooperation between Indonesia and the United Kingdom. After going through a series of discussion, finally we agree to strengthen our cooperation through a Memorandum of Understanding. We hope that the implementation of the MoU could be successful, and the outputs are achieved timely.”

Ambassador of the Republic of Indonesia to the United Kingdom and Ireland, Dr. Rizal Sukma said:

"The current pandemic has shown the importance of working hand in hand in building robust collaboration between nations to accelerate research on health and medical treatment. The MoU marks another milestone of collaboration between Indonesia and United Kingdom"

Parliamentary Under Secretary of State at the Department for Health and Social Care, Lord Bethell said:

“This global pandemic has highlighted the importance of nations coming together to tackle the world’s biggest health challenges, both now and in the future. Agreements like this pave the way for the sharing of vital knowledge and expertise between the UK and Republic of Indonesia, strengthening our health systems and ultimately saving lives.”

Her Majesty’s Ambassador to Indonesia and Timor Leste, Owen Jenkins, said:

“Our challenging times mean that health is a shared priority for us all. I am very pleased that with this timely MoU, the UK and Indonesia are able to deepen our collaboration in this critical area. It will not only help us in our shared battle with coronavirus, but ensure that we are prepared for the subsequent work that will need to be done to strengthen services in the health sector to improve future health.”