Kang Kyung-hwa: "To Overcome COVID-19, 'Multilateral Health System' Must Be Strengthened"

Minister Kang Attends Ministerial-Level Video Conference on Multilateralism Solidarity

[Asia Economy Reporter Lim Cheol-young] "We must strengthen the multilateral health system to overcome the novel coronavirus infection (COVID-19) pandemic and respond to similar health crises."

On the 25th (New York time), Minister Kang, attending the 'Ministerial Video Conference on Solidarity for Multilateralism' held on the occasion of the 75th United Nations General Assembly high-level session, emphasized the need to strengthen the multilateral health system.

He said, "The international community must discuss concrete and practical measures to strengthen the multilateral health system," adding, "We need to improve health regulations such as the development of core health capacities in each country, strengthening information sharing, ensuring essential travel, improving early warning systems, and the International Health Regulations to protect privacy and human rights."

Minister Kang continued, "We must strengthen multilateralism centered on public health and infectious disease management," and added, "To this end, Korea is leading discussions on pandemic-related issues in multilateral forums through groups such as the Geneva Friends Group."

This video conference was hosted by the foreign ministries of Germany and France, with participation from ministerial-level officials from over 20 countries including Korea, as well as representatives from the UN and civil society. The Alliance for Multilateralism was launched in April 2019, led by Germany and France, as an informal consultation body among like-minded countries to strengthen multilateralism.

He also emphasized that the whole world should have equitable access to COVID-19 vaccines and treatments. Minister Kang stated, "We must promote the research, development, production, and distribution of COVID-19 diagnostic devices, treatments, and vaccines," and noted, "Securing equitable and appropriate access is important." Korea led the launch of the Global Infectious Disease Response Cooperation Support Group (G4IDR) on May 20 to improve global governance related to infectious disease response and preparedness. Currently, the core group includes Korea, Singapore, Turkey, UAE, Morocco, Kenya, Peru, Mexico, and others, with participation from the European Union (EU), Luxembourg, Russia, Finland, France, Japan, China, Australia, Canada, Uruguay, Cambodia, Pakistan, Brunei, Myanmar, Sri Lanka, and more.

The participating countries in the video conference agreed that through multilateral cooperation, they can more effectively address not only health issues but also pressing challenges such as climate change, digitalization, and gender, sharing each country's efforts and contribution plans. This meeting was organized as roundtables on four themes: climate change, health, digital, and gender.

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