WHO "Han COVID-19 Research Provides Basis for Global Response" (Comprehensive)

Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, WHO Director-General. Source=Yonhap News

[Asia Economy Reporter Cho Hyun-ui] The World Health Organization (WHO) will join the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) research led by domestic researchers starting from the 18th. WHO expressed its intention to participate first, and the government accepted it. This is analyzed as a judgment that domestic research will help establish response strategies for countries around the world amid the realization of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The National Institute of Health under the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency announced that a working-level meeting for COVID-19 clinical cohort research will be held this afternoon at the National Central Medical Center in Seoul, China. The meeting will be attended by domestic experts, research participants, WHO clinical teams, and COVID-19 advisory committee members.

The research will be conducted by securing patient specimens (test samples) on an hourly basis and analyzing immunological and serological characteristics. WHO proposed a study examining the amount and presence of the virus, as well as the timing of symptom onset and disappearance, through four types of specimens: blood, urine, stool, and respiratory samples. The final research plan will be determined by domestic researchers.

This meeting was promoted following WHO's expression of willingness to participate in the COVID-19 clinical epidemiology research led by the National Institute of Health and domestic medical staff. The meeting will discuss the introduction of domestic COVID-19 clinical and immune pattern research projects, research survey forms and data collection methods for clinical research, data analysis and utilization plans, and the role of WHO.

An official from the National Institute of Health said, "WHO is very interested in treatment responses, characteristics of severe and fatal cases, and clinical viral characteristics amid the explosive increase of confirmed cases in Europe," adding, "It is known that WHO hopes to continuously expand international cooperative research with countries other than Korea." He added, "Through international cooperation with Korea, WHO plans to attempt to revise and supplement international guidelines on COVID-19, and to this end, plans to seek mutual information sharing and cooperation measures with the Korean government."

Meanwhile, the National Institute of Health is conducting urgent research projects on patients' clinical epidemiological and immunological studies to actively respond to the COVID-19 situation. Kim Seong-soon, head of the Infectious Disease Research Center at the National Institute of Health, said, "Through domestic COVID-19 clinical research, we will secure evidence for quarantine policies and create an opportunity to strengthen international cooperation through linkage with WHO."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.