Jeong Eun-gyeong: "The First Mission of the Disease Control Headquarters is Overcoming COVID-19"

President Moon Jae-in and Jeong Eun-kyeong, the first Commissioner of the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency, are entering the Emergency Situation Center of the Disease Control Headquarters in Cheongju, Chungbuk, on the 11th. Commissioner Jeong received her appointment letter on this day as the inaugural Commissioner of the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency, which will be launched on the 12th.

[Asia Economy Reporter Choi Dae-yeol] Jeong Eun-kyung, head of the Central Disease Control Headquarters, said on the 11th, "The first mission of the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency is to fully commit to overcoming COVID-19."

The Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, which was launched in 2004 as an agency under the Ministry of Health and Welfare, will be elevated and expanded into the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency on the 12th. Jeong, who took office as the head of the Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in 2017, has been appointed as the first commissioner of the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency. On the same day, President Moon Jae-in visited the emergency situation center of the Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Osong, Chungbuk, and presented Jeong with the appointment letter.

Jeong said, "To respond to COVID-19, the first task is to strengthen epidemiological response by securing and training experts for contact tracing and infection route investigation currently underway, establishing a crisis response analyst position to enhance epidemiological analysis and forecasting capabilities," adding, "We will establish five regional disease response centers to collaborate with local areas and focus on COVID-19 response at the regional level."

She also added, "With the establishment of the National Institute of Infectious Diseases, a core task related to organizational restructuring is to accelerate vaccine and treatment development by strengthening public-private cooperation and enhancing research and development efforts."

Regarding infectious disease response, she stated that in addition to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, they will prepare diagnostic, investigation, and response capabilities in advance for new infectious diseases, including zoonoses, and also professionally address existing infectious disease issues such as tuberculosis, healthcare-associated infections, and antibiotic resistance. They plan to broadly monitor other health-threatening areas such as fine dust, climate change, injury, and poisoning.

Jeong will also focus on strengthening expertise, which she has emphasized so far. With the staff size increasing by about 350, they have already requested the transfer of about 70 personnel from the Ministry of Health and Welfare and are pursuing ways to bring in experienced employees in health administration and disease control fields. They plan to recruit external experts through open competitive positions and strengthen field-based education, training, and learning for existing staff.

Jeong said, "We will establish a cooperative system with private experts to enhance public health expertise, administrative capacity as a central government agency, communication skills with the public and expert groups, and develop personnel through a structured process." She added that since organic cooperation with each region is crucial during infectious disease outbreaks, they will also consult and coordinate with related ministries to enhance the capabilities of health and environment research institutes and public health centers in each city and province.

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