INTERVIEW Antivenoms - Costa Rican 'weapon' to counter COVID
Costa Rican Vice Minister for Bilateral Affairs and International Cooperation Adriana Bolanos Argueta poses during an interview with The Korea Times at the Costa Rican Embassy in Seoul, Nov. 25. The second-in-command of the Costa Rican foreign ministry, she visited Korea in late November to attend the 2020 Korea-Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC) Future Cooperation Forum and also to discuss bilateral issues. / Korea Times photo by Yi Whan-woo
By Yi Whan-woo
Many countries have been racing to develop effective vaccines and treatments to counter COVID-19.
Costa Rica wants to be counted in, too, with ongoing trials of a coronavirus treatment based on its rich experience of using horse antibodies to develop snake antivenoms.
“We have been producing antivenoms for snakebites for many years. We're now capitalizing on our scientific expertise to come up with treatments for COVID-19 and this is what I've been addressing in Korea,” Costa Rican Vice Minister for Bilateral Affairs and International Cooperation Adriana Bolanos Argueta told The Korea Times during a recent interview in Seoul.
The second-in-command of Costa Rica's foreign ministry, Bolanos was in Korea to participate in the 2020 Korea-Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC) Future Cooperation Forum.
Held Nov. 23 and 24, the forum was the first conference involving ministers and vice ministers from foreign and health ministries of Korea and LAC since the start of the pandemic.
The participants joined either online or offline, discussing ways to strengthen solidarity and preventive measures.
The topics addressed by Bolanos included how Costa Rica's Clodomiro Picado Institute (ICP), one of the world's leading manufacturers of snake antidotes and the only one in Central America, was inspired by its antidote in its trial to cure coronavirus.
In its September edition article, the Smithsonian Magazine referred to the institute as “the lab saving the world from snakebites,” referring to 100,000 vials of antivenom produced annually for treating people in Central and South America and sub-Saharan Africa.
The antivenoms are developed by inoculating horses with tiny amounts of venom for months to develop their immune response, drawing the horses' blood and separating off the antibody-rich plasma, which is purified, sterilized and packaged as an injectable fluid for the humans.
Similarly, the non-infectious coronavirus protein is injected into horses, and weeks later when the animals develop enough antibodies, their blood is extracted to develop antibody-rich serum from the plasma.
The ICP has been running clinical trials since September.
“It's important for the world to share scientific development against the coronavirus, and hopefully Costa Rica can play a role accordingly,” Bolanos said. “By doing so, we can overcome the crisis in inclusive and sustainable ways.”
Asked about Costa Rica's campaign against COVID-19, she said it is characterized with balancing quarantine measures and safeguarding the economy, especially tourism.
After closing the borders, the country since Nov. 1 has allowed all international visitors to enter if they meet the country's visa and COVID-19 entry requirements.
The land border has also been reopened for foreign residents.
From the beginning of the pandemic, the government has not restricted people's movements within its borders, while putting in place driving restrictions for vehicles other than public transportation.
“We take the COVID-19 situation as serious as other countries do, but for us, delicately dealing with tourism as a major source of income has been our priority issue, too,” Bolanos said. “After all, it's about balance in this difficult time.”
She noted that Costa Rica, as one of few countries to abolish its army and spend money for better social development, is benefiting from the government-run universal healthcare system in the pandemic era.
Called “Caja Costarricense de Seguro Social,” the system is ranked by the United Nations as one of the top 20 public healthcare systems in the world and No. 1 in Latin America.
“We do have a robust healthcare system and that has allowed us to manage with the COVID-19 crisis,” Bolanos said.
Regarding Korea's quarantine procedures she witnessed, Bolanos assessed the people are “disciplined and respectful toward the policies.”
“It's amazing to see people wearing face masks outside at all time and having body temperature checked when entering restaurants and other indoor areas,” she said.
On bilateral pandemic cooperation, she thanked Korea for donating masks, test kits and other medical equipment.
“We cannot go it alone in our fight against the pandemic, and in that regard, we express our gratitude to Korea for its cooperation,” she said.
The vice minister viewed Costa Rica, with free public education for primary and secondary schools, as having “rich human sources” to cooperate with Korea in 5G communications networks, e-government, cybersecurity and information and communication technologies.
All these industries were mentioned as key areas of future cooperation during the 2020 Korea- LAC Future Cooperation Forum.
The vice minister made a six-day visit to Korea until Nov. 28, during which she also worked on various areas of bilateral and international cooperation.
She met First Vice Foreign Minister Choi Jong-kun while visiting the Korea International Cooperation Agency, K-ICT Born 2 Global Center, Incheon Free Economic Zone, Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology, the Green Climate Fund and the World Smart Sustainable Cities Organization.
A career diplomat, she became the vice minister in February.
The Costa Rican foreign ministry is led by Rodolfo Solano Quiros, who was the ambassador to Korea from 2015 to 2019.