BPOM Outlines Preparedness to Handle Pandemic Situations with WHO Listed Authority Status
Jakarta — The head of the Indonesian Food and Drug Authority (BPOM), Taruna Ikrar, has outlined several benefits of WHO Listed Authority (WLA) status, particularly in managing situations such as the COVID-19 pandemic that occurred recently.
He explained that vaccine requirements form part of national resilience during pandemic situations, whilst vaccine sources require a staged process.
“For example, by obtaining WLA status, or WHO Listed Authority, which relates to medicines and vaccines, what we can achieve is ensuring availability, because we know that medicines and vaccines are part of our national interest,” Taruna said during CNBC Indonesia’s Health Forum on Friday, 27 February 2026.
When BPOM is recognised by a world body, he stated that BPOM has many schemes to produce and authorise vaccines or medicines for distribution to the public.
“There is what we call Normal Evaluation Status, which we refer to as Marketing Authorization. Then there is what we call the Special Access Scheme. So special access for products to enter our country. Emergency situations typically use special access, but that is for limited quantities,” he explained.
Additionally, there is a policy called Emergency Use Authorization, commonly used during pandemic conditions. This policy involves issuing permits for the use of certain medical methods or products.
“Furthermore, we are also developing what we call Approval or Conditional Approval. In that context, we are discussing availability in the event of competition to obtain vaccines or medicines,” he added.
He emphasised that with the achievement of WLA status, vaccines produced in Indonesia can increase their production capacity and be sold more widely.
Beyond vaccines, pandemics are also linked to medicine availability. The WLA status will help ensure medicine availability during pandemic conditions.
“As a regulator with WLA or WHO Listed Authority status at such a high level, what can we achieve? Our vaccines that we produce domestically, produced by Bio Farma, there is also Biotis, or Etana—these can produce more than before,” Taruna asserted.
For context, BPOM was recently officially designated by the World Health Organization (WHO) as a WHO Listed Authority (WLA) for medical product regulation (vaccines). This recognition places BPOM on par with leading regulatory authorities in developed nations worldwide, such as Australia’s Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA).