Korea pledges additional $17 million to help prevent infectious diseases in developing countries
Published: 13 Nov. 2024, 18:06
![Kweon Ki-hwan, right, deputy foreign minister for global and multilateral affairs of the Foreign Ministry, speaks with Philippe Duneton, Unitaid's executive director, on Wednesday. [YONHAP]](https://koreajoongangdaily.joins.com/data/photo/2024/11/13/ab05fe5b-8472-4a3f-a51e-5f337a4b04e3.jpg)
Kweon Ki-hwan, right, deputy foreign minister for global and multilateral affairs of the Foreign Ministry, speaks with Philippe Duneton, Unitaid's executive director, on Wednesday. [YONHAP]
Korea pledged Wednesday to provide an additional $17 million to a global health initiative to help prevent infectious diseases like tuberculosis and malaria in developing countries, the Foreign Ministry said.
The government signed an agreement on its commitment to providing the funds to Unitaid, a global health organization engaged in funding for such efforts, following a meeting between Kweon Ki-hwan, deputy foreign minister for global and multilateral affairs, and Philippe Duneton, Unitaid's executive director, the ministry said in a release.
The funds will be delivered through the Access to Covid-19 Tools Accelerator, an initiative established to promote the development and production of and equal access to Covid-19 vaccines and treatment.
Seoul's donation to Unitaid will increase to a total of $22 million.
Unitaid is a body co-founded in 2006 by Brazil, Chile, France, Norway and Britain under the World Health Organization to prevent, diagnose and treat infectious diseases in low- and middle-income countries.
In the meeting with Duneton, Kweon explained Korea's efforts toward strengthening global health systems through cooperation with global bodies like Unitaid, and noted the importance of the international community working together to prevent pandemics in the future.
Kweon also asked for Duneton's support for more substantive cooperation between Korean bio companies and Unitaid.
Korean companies provided Covid-19 test kits to countries like Senegal during the pandemic.
Yonhap
with the Korea JoongAng Daily
To write comments, please log in to one of the accounts.
Standards Board Policy (0/250자)