Jung Eun-kyung "Heavy Sense of Duty... Top Priority is Overcoming COVID-19"

Korea Disease Control Agency's First Commissioner "Promoting Long-term Strategy to Suppress COVID-19"

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Seo So-jeong] "I feel a heavy sense of duty as the first Commissioner of the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA). Overcoming the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) will be our top priority."

On the 14th, at the opening ceremony of the KDCA held at the Welfare Hall in the Osong Health and Medical Administration Town, Chungbuk, Commissioner Jeong Eun-kyung stated, "We will pursue a long-term strategy to suppress COVID-19 at a level manageable by the domestic medical and quarantine systems."

Commissioner Jeong said, "The establishment of the KDCA amid the ongoing severe COVID-19 crisis reflects the stern will of the people and the government to overcome the COVID-19 crisis early and to prepare more professionally and systematically for emerging infectious diseases that will continue to occur in the future."

She explained, "Since COVID-19 poses an infection risk to all citizens who have no immunity, and due to its high transmissibility and infectivity during the asymptomatic period, it is expected to cause a prolonged epidemic. Until solutions such as vaccines are introduced, we are implementing a long-term epidemic suppression strategy to control the scale and speed of outbreaks at a level manageable by our medical, quarantine, and social systems."

As a detailed direction for quarantine efforts, Commissioner Jeong proposed strengthening the epidemiological response capabilities of central and local governments. First, the Disease Response Centers to be established in five regions, including the metropolitan area, will serve as focal points for community COVID-19 response.

Commissioner Jeong also emphasized the importance of vaccine and therapeutic development. She announced the establishment of the National Institute of Infectious Diseases as an affiliated organization, aiming to secure domestically produced therapeutics (plasma therapy) by this year and develop a domestic vaccine by next year.

She stressed, "The KDCA is a comprehensive organization that responds not only to COVID-19 but also to infectious diseases such as influenza, tuberculosis, antibiotic-resistant infections, healthcare-associated infections, and zoonotic diseases on a regular basis. We will strengthen a meticulous system covering the entire cycle from infectious disease surveillance, investigation, and analysis to crisis preparedness and response."

Additionally, the KDCA stated it will enhance prevention and management not only of infectious diseases but also of various chronic diseases, everyday health issues such as climate change, and diseases in blind spots like rare diseases.

Addressing the staff, Commissioner Jeong emphasized unity. She said, "We are still in the middle of a stormy sea. As the captain and a crew member of this new ship called the KDCA, I will be a colleague who completes this voyage with all of you until the end."

The KDCA was officially launched on the 12th after being elevated from the Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, an agency under the Ministry of Health and Welfare, to an independent agency. With this elevation, the organization was reorganized into 5 bureaus, 3 offices, and 41 divisions, including the Commissioner and Deputy Commissioner, and the workforce expanded from 907 personnel at the Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to 1,476, an increase of 569 staff members.

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