On October 16, Dr. Youngmee Jee, Commissioner of the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA), held a meeting with four regional directors from the Uzbekistani State Sanitary Epidemiological Welfare and Public Health Committee (SEWPHC), along with Professor Jae Wook Choi from the Graduate School of Public Health at Korea University. During this meeting, the KDCA presented an overview of the agency and introduced the Global Health Security Coordination Office (GHSCO), which was opened last December. Additionally, the agency shared Korea’s experiences in responding to the COVID-19 pandemic, as well as the “National Pandemic Preparedness and Response Plan”, which has been established last year.

The visit to the KDCA was made at request of trainees from Korea International Cooperation Agency (KOICA)-led project titled “Capacity Building for the Infectious Disease Response System to Address Disease Burden in Uzbekistan.” During this meeting, both sides exchanged information on the current status of infectious diseases and their response strategies, reaffirming that addressing infectious disease outbreaks is a globally shared challenge that requires close cooperation and collaboration between countries. Mustanov Abdusamat, the Director of the SEWPHC in Surkhandarya region, emphasized the importance of international collaboration for infectious disease response and expressed hope for seeking expanded partnership opportunities between Uzbekistan and Korea in the future.

Commissioner Dr. Youngmee Jee stated, “The KDCA will continue its collaboration not only with Uzbekistan but also with the KOICA, which organized today’s visit. We are committed to actively supporting a variety of initiatives aimed at strengthening global health security capabilities.”