Medical experts, businesspeople discuss partnerships between Korea, Africa

Lyeo Woon-ki, president of the Korea-Africa Foundation, delivers an opening speech at the Korea-Africa Health and Medical Business Seminar held at the Korea International Trade Association (KITA) office in Seoul, Tuesday. Courtesy of KITA

By Lee Hyo-jin

Medical experts and businesspeople from Korea and Africa discussed ways to bolster ties in the healthcare sector amid the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, during a business seminar hosted by the Korea Africa Foundation (KAF), Tuesday.

Established in 2018, the KAF is an affiliate of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs that aims to promote relations with African countries in various sectors.

As cross-border partnerships have become increasingly vital in tackling the ongoing pandemic, the foundation, along with the Korea International Trade Association (KITA), jointly organized the Korea-Africa Health and Medical Business Seminar, bringing together disease experts and businesspeople from the two sides.

Attending Tuesday's seminar were KAF President Lyeo Woon-ki, Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC) Acting Director Ahmed Ogwell Ouma, KITA Executive Vice President Shin Seung-kwan, Institut Pasteur Korea CEO Jee Young-mee and Park Se-eun, a research scientist at the International Vaccine Institute (IVI), among others.

The seminar kicked off with an opening speech by Lyeo. "Since the onset of COVID-19, the need to strengthen disease response capacity in Africa to a continent level has emerged as a global issue," he said.

"On top of the coronavirus, the recent spread of the monkeypox virus has driven health security as a key global agenda. I hope this seminar will serve as an opportunity for health experts and businesspeople to come up with new strategies to scale up cooperation between Korea and African countries in the medical sector."

Shin Seung-kwan, vice president of the Korea International Trade Association (KITA), delivers a welcoming speech during the Korea-Africa Health and Medical Business Seminar, Tuesday. Courtesy of KITA

This was then followed by a welcoming speech by Shin, who said that Korea would be a suitable partner for Africa, where the demand for medical infrastructure and telemedicine is expected to surge in the near future.

Kim Heon-joo, vice commissioner of the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA) delivered his congratulatory remarks via video message, saying, "Through enhanced partnerships, our agency and the Africa CDC will be able to contribute to the improvement of global health security."

In his keynote speech, Ouma said Korea has been a good friend to Africa during the COVID-19 pandemic and expressed hopes for the friendship to be expanded so that the two sides can learn from one another in preparation for future pandemics.

"We are looking for opportunities to bolster partnerships in strengthening disease surveillance, diagnosis of new diseases and the production of health products," he said.

The first session, moderated by Institut Pasteur Korea CEO Jee, looked into the current state of governance in Africa's health and medical sector, along with prospects and challenges facing partnerships between Korea and Africa.

Ahmed Ogwell Ouma, acting director of the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention, speaks during the Korea-Africa Health and Medical Business Seminar, Tuesday. Courtesy of Korea International Trade Association

Ouma gave a presentation about the Africa CDC's New Public Health Order, which focuses on five key areas ― strengthening regional and national health institutions; expanding manufacturing of vaccines, diagnostics and therapeutics; increasing investment in the public health workforce and leadership programs; building action-oriented partnerships and expanding domestic investment.

"Although a well-prepared healthcare manpower is key to enabling the new public health order, Africa currently has a significant skills gap in the public health workforce," he said, stressing that Korea and Africa should cooperate in strengthening the latter's human resources capacity.

Jeong Yu-jin, director of international affairs at the KDCA, spoke about ongoing cooperation projects between the agency and the Africa CDC and plans to expand these projects, highlighting the importance of global partnerships and solidarity in times of health crisis.

"We have learned through the COVID-19 pandemic that information and evidence found in one country should be shared with others through various channels in order for us to overcome the health crisis," she said.

Participants attend the Korea-Africa Health and Medical Business Seminar held in Seoul, Tuesday. Courtesy of Korea International Trade Association

During the second session, moderated by Lee Hoon-sang, co-founder of Global Health & Development Partners, the panelists focused on ways to build cooperation in the private healthcare sector for the post-pandemic era.

Lee Jeong-min, a senior official at the National Institute of Infectious Disease under the KDCA, discussed the current status of international cooperation research in the institute, while Kim Young-hoon, vice president of Bioneer, a local bio company, gave insight on possible ways to establish a new quarantine system in Africa using a new-generation molecular diagnostics system.

Park of the IVI gave a presentation about past collaboration between Korea and Africa through a case study on the development of cholera vaccines.