Disease Cheong Initiates Discussions to Become a Global Leader in Health Security

The 4th Global Strategic Advisory Committee Meeting to Be Held
Discussion on Plans for the Second Joint External Evaluation under WHO

The Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA) will hold the 4th Global Strategic Advisory Committee meeting on the 23rd at the Press Center in Jung-gu, Seoul.

At the meeting, KDCA will receive reports on major achievements from the second half of last year and discuss plans for this year. Previously, when the advisory committee was launched in July 2023, it presented three strategic initiatives: ▲advancing as a leading global health security institution ▲expanding international community support and cooperation systems ▲strengthening international cooperation human networks.

First, KDCA plans to strengthen international cooperation on infectious disease agendas by hosting health working-level meetings and side events, taking advantage of Korea’s chairmanship of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC). Additionally, KDCA will solidify official development assistance (ODA) projects in disease control by enhancing cooperation with related organizations such as KOICA and KOFIH, and will continue to strengthen bilateral and multilateral cooperation with international organizations and key countries. Furthermore, in addition to pandemic preparedness and response and antimicrobial resistance, KDCA will promptly pursue the designation of a new international health organization cooperation center in the field of chronic disease surveillance and investigation.

Moreover, KDCA will continuously expand opportunities for dispatching professional personnel overseas. It also plans to actively participate in global networks for joint research and response in various detailed fields such as vaccine development, diagnostics and analysis, data analysis, and climate health.

In particular, KDCA will discuss plans for the second Joint External Evaluation (JEE) under the World Health Organization (WHO) International Health Regulations as a major task for 2025. Based on WHO recommendations, KDCA will expand public health crisis preparedness and response policies by operating a public-private One Health forum related to antimicrobial resistance. The second JEE will evaluate South Korea’s public health crisis preparedness and response capabilities after the COVID-19 pandemic. KDCA will lead the formation of a joint external evaluation preparation team and, through cooperation with relevant public health ministries, conduct a self-assessment in the first half of the year, with the evaluation scheduled for the end of August.

Co-chair Son Myung-se expressed, “I am pleased that KDCA is successfully establishing its role as a leading international health security institution,” and added, “I hope the advisory committee can continue to contribute to expanding KDCA’s role in the international community.”

Jiyoung Mi, Commissioner of KDCA, stated, “KDCA will strive to fulfill its responsibilities to the international community while ensuring the safety of our citizens as a central institution in health security,” and added, “We will continue to gather diverse opinions from experts with international experience through various opportunities such as the operation of the advisory committee, to help KDCA leap forward as a global leading institution.”

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