By Bae Ji-sook
Staff Reporter

A Georgian disease research center has been selected as the winner of the ``Dr. Lee Jong-wook Memorial Prize for Public Health'' by the World Health Organization and the Korean Foundation for International Healthcare.

The Georgian Infectious Disease, Aids, and Clinical Immunology Research Center is the first winner to come from a former Soviet Union nation.

The institute, established in 1985, has taken charge of controlling and managing Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) and the prevalence of Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (AIDS). WHO said the center has contributed to Georgia being a leader in Eastern Europe in the prevention of the deadly disease.

Tengiz Tsertsvadz, head of the institute, said, ``It is a great honor to be recognized not only by WHO but also by people who commemorate Lee. I hope the award will forge ties between Georgia and Korea.''

The prize was established in commemoration of the late Lee Jong-wook, the first Korean to take the secretary-general position of the international health authority.

It is given to people or organizations that contribute to research, prevention, treatment or the control of HIV/AIDS, other communicable diseases or neglected tropical diseases. The winner receives a prize of about $85,000.

bjs@koreatimes.co.kr