[Public Voices] Korea's Global Health Leadership

‘World Bio Summit’ to Be Held in Seoul
Strengthening Korea’s Status and Health Sovereignty Expected

It has already been 2 years and 9 months since COVID-19 changed our lives. To overcome this virus, which has caused over 600 million cumulative confirmed cases and more than 6 million deaths worldwide, governments, international organizations, private foundations, companies, and experts collaborated to develop vaccines and treatments at an unprecedented speed. However, the developed vaccines and treatments were not equitably supplied to all who needed them due to vaccine nationalism and supply chain shortages, and the prolonged COVID-19 pandemic continues to have negative impacts on human health and socio-economic conditions.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, the world painfully realized the reality that no one is safe until everyone is safe. Health experts emphasize that to overcome future infectious disease crises humanity faces, it is necessary to establish a system that continuously monitors global health conditions and can develop vaccines within 100 days and equitably supply vaccines worldwide within 6 months upon the outbreak of infectious diseases.

This innovation in the international health paradigm will be possible when the expanded investments of governments, continuous research and development by the private sector and companies, and enhanced global cooperation by international organizations create synergy. At this point when the world is recovering daily life, the three main actors?governments, companies, and international organizations?must come together to start more realistic and serious discussions to build a new global health paradigm.

To this end, our government will hold the ‘World Bio Summit’ to provide a continuous platform for discussions and cooperation among global health leaders. The ‘2022 World Bio Summit,’ held over two days on October 25 and 26 in Seoul, will be attended by about 300 people related to the bio-health sector, including around 60 top-level leaders.

On the first day of the event, heads of state from various countries, the Director-General of the World Health Organization (via video), representatives of international organizations including the head of the International Development Bank, and leaders of private foundations will gather to discuss lessons learned from the COVID-19 response and ways to establish global health governance. There will also be sessions where representatives of global vaccine and bio companies present their future visions. On the second day, detailed sessions on infectious disease response such as vaccine and treatment development, workforce training, global supply chains, and regulatory cooperation will be held, culminating in a session where the global vision is shared worldwide.

This event is expected to raise domestic and international interest in scientific innovation in the vaccine and bio industries and cooperation and partnerships to make these benefits more equitable. The experiences, knowledge, and insights shared through the event will serve as valuable groundwork for ongoing COVID-19 responses and future infectious disease preparedness.

During the COVID-19 situation, Korea has taken the lead in establishing an excellent quarantine system, becoming a model for global quarantine systems. In February, the World Health Organization (WHO) designated Korea as a ‘workforce training hub’ to educate vaccine production personnel from low- and middle-income countries, confirming the international community’s expectations of Korea as a global health leader. Hosting this ‘World Bio Summit’ will further strengthen Korea’s status in international health governance and contribute to enhancing the health sovereignty of our people along with global health. I sincerely ask for the public’s interest and support for the successful hosting of this event.

/ Ki-il Lee, 2nd Vice Minister, Ministry of Health and Welfare

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