Jakarta, Sept. 23 -- Health Minister Budi Gunadi Sadikin has received the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation's "Goalkeepers" award for his leadership in reforming Indonesia's health system after the COVID-19 pandemic.

The Goalkeepers award honors global figures committed to advancing the United Nations' Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

In a keynote speech in New York on Monday (Sept. 22), Sadikin recalled his life story, noting that in 1964, the year he was born, one in seven babies did not survive their first year.

"Thanks to childhood vaccinations like chickenpox, I survived, studied physics, and built a 30-year career in banking before being entrusted as Indonesia's health minister," he said.

Appointed in 2020 as the first non-me...