KDCA Conducts Public Health Emergency Preparedness Training with WHO and Philippine Department of Health

On the 14th, the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA) announced on the 15th that it conducted a joint tabletop exercise for public health emergency preparedness and response in Manila, Philippines, in collaboration with the World Health Organization (WHO) country office and the Department of Health. The tabletop exercise is a type of training that assumes various scenarios to discuss problem-solving, information sharing, and cooperation and coordination measures among related agencies regarding issues that may arise during crises and disasters.

The exercise was conducted as part of the Infectious Disease Management International Contribution Fund project, which the KDCA supports to the WHO Western Pacific Regional Office (WPRO) to strengthen infectious disease surveillance and novel infectious disease response capabilities within the Asia region and to minimize the domestic impact of overseas infectious diseases.

Since last year, the KDCA has been collaborating with the WHO Philippines country office and the Philippine Department of Health to establish a post-COVID-19 preparedness and response system. In this context, the Korean and Philippine health authorities cooperated to conduct this joint tabletop exercise for public health emergency preparedness and response to prepare for novel and re-emerging diseases (Disease X).

The tabletop exercise involved not only the central government of the Philippines but also local governments, related agencies, and international organizations to discuss concrete measures to resolve public health emergencies.

Ji Young-mi, Commissioner of the KDCA, explained, "At a time when public health emergency response has become crucial after COVID-19, the joint exercise with the Philippines, with which Korea has extensive human and material exchanges, holds significant importance in strengthening domestic and international health security."

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