Indonesia to urge G20 to establish global health fund

Budi Gunadi Sadikin, president director of PT Bank Mandiri, gestures as he speaks during a news conference at the World Economic Forum on East Asia in Jakarta, Indonesia, on Monday, April 20, 2015. The World Economic Forum on East Asia takes place in Jakarta from April 20-21. Photographer: Dimas Ardian/Bloomberg via Getty Images

JAKARTA, Feb 12 (Reuters): Indonesia will urge the Group of 20 leading economies to establish a global body that can dispense emergency funds during a health crisis, functioning in a similar way to international financial institutions, its health minister has announced.

Under the current system, countries are "basically on their own" if they need emergency funds, vaccines, therapeutics or diagnostics, and as G20 president this year, Indonesia will seek to change that, Health Minister Budi Gunadi Sadikin (pic) told a news conference.