Korea's Public Health Crisis Response Capabilities to Undergo Joint Evaluation with WHO

Second Joint External Evaluation Scheduled for August
Assessing Inter-Ministerial Response Capabilities for Future Health Crises

The Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA) announced on April 24 that it will conduct a Joint External Evaluation (JEE) organized by the World Health Organization (WHO) this coming August, in order to assess inter-ministerial response capabilities and prepare for future health crises such as emerging infectious diseases. In accordance with the "Plan for Inter-Ministerial Capacity Assessment for Global Health Crisis Preparedness," which was discussed at the Cabinet Ministers' Meeting presided over by the Prime Minister that day, the KDCA and relevant ministries will begin full-scale preparations for the evaluation.

Since 2016, the WHO has been conducting Joint External Evaluations to objectively assess each country's capacity to prepare for and respond to public health emergencies, as part of efforts to strengthen the implementation of the International Health Regulations (IHR). The evaluation covers all health-related areas, including infectious disease response systems, zoonotic diseases, antimicrobial resistance, food safety, and chemical and radiological incidents, and is recommended to be conducted every five years.

Based on the reformed national disease control system established after the MERS outbreak, Korea underwent its first Joint External Evaluation in 2017 and received excellent results in most areas, including vaccination and laboratory diagnostics. Following WHO recommendations, Korea established an inter-ministerial working group to strengthen the One Health approach and launched an antimicrobial resistance portal system, thereby laying the foundation for public health crisis preparedness and response.

The second Joint External Evaluation will assess Korea's public health crisis preparedness and response capabilities, which have evolved since the COVID-19 pandemic. Among advanced countries, Korea will be the second, after the United States, to undergo this evaluation. From August 25 to 30, over a total of six days, 12 ministries and agencies?including the KDCA, Ministry of Science and ICT, Ministry of National Defense, Ministry of the Interior and Safety, Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs, Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy, Ministry of Health and Welfare, Ministry of Environment, Ministry of Gender Equality and Family, Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries, Ministry of Food and Drug Safety, and Nuclear Safety and Security Commission?will participate in the assessment, which will cover 56 detailed indicators across 19 evaluation areas in four categories: prevention, detection, response, and others.

The evaluation will be based on Korea’s Self Assessment Report, with the external evaluation team visiting in person to finalize scores for each indicator through document reviews, presentations and Q&A sessions, and discussions. During the evaluation period, site visits will be arranged for the evaluation team to help them better understand Korea’s public health system and to demonstrate inter-ministerial collaboration processes.

Ji Youngmi, Commissioner of the KDCA, stated, "It is essential to confirm our strengthened public health crisis response capabilities after COVID-19 and to use this opportunity to identify vulnerabilities across the health sector, including infectious diseases, in order to prepare for future health crises." She added, "We will make thorough preparations for the WHO Joint External Evaluation, which is being conducted for the first time in eight years, so that Korea can further enhance its standing in the field of health security."