Inauguration Ceremony Held at Osong on the 14th
Emphasizes Role as "Control Tower for Public Health Crises"
Seungkwan Lim, the newly appointed Director of the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency, emphasized the agency's role as a control tower during public health crises and announced plans to promote the localization of the messenger ribonucleic acid (mRNA) platform, as well as the creation of a safer medical environment.
Im Seungkwan, the newly appointed Commissioner of the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency, is delivering his inaugural address at the inauguration ceremony held on the 14th at the KDCA building in Osong, Cheongju, Chungbuk. Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency
At his inauguration ceremony held on the 14th at the KDCA building in Osong, Cheongju, Chungbuk, Lim stated, "The KDCA will serve as the control tower for public health crises, including infectious disease disasters, so that we can protect the health and safety of the people and strengthen the nation's health security capabilities."
Lim said, "I will examine the shortcomings and vulnerabilities revealed during Korea's pandemic response and address them as we move forward," adding, "Based on the various mid- to long-term plans and data platforms that the KDCA has prepared, we will take the lead in reorganizing the national infectious disease response system."
He particularly promised, "To localize the mRNA platform, which is the key to responding to the next pandemic, we will actively support the mRNA vaccine development support project that began this year," and added, "In this era of climate and demographic crises that are no longer unfamiliar, we will lay the foundation for national disease control policies from a mid- to long-term perspective."
To protect the public from climate disasters such as heat waves and heavy rain, the agency plans to establish a health impact monitoring and investigation system. In addition, in the era of a super-aged society, the agency will promote frailty prevention projects centered on local communities.
Lim emphasized, "Based on the excellent health security practices accumulated during the COVID-19 response period, the KDCA will strengthen international cooperation and collaboration to enhance global public health capabilities," and added, "We will actively promote prevention and management for vulnerable groups to eliminate tuberculosis, malaria, and human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), and also create a safer medical environment."
He continued, "We will revitalize community-based chronic disease prevention and management projects so that people can manage chronic diseases such as hypertension and diabetes where they live," and added, "Based on the Injury Prevention Act implemented this year, we will strengthen the national safety net against health risk factors."
Lim, who was inaugurated as the fourth Director of the KDCA, is an infectious disease specialist who earned his bachelor's and master's degrees from Ajou University School of Medicine. He has served as the head of the Gyeonggi Province COVID-19 Emergency Response Team, director of Gyeonggi Provincial Medical Center Anseong Hospital, director of policy planning for the Korean Society of Infectious Diseases, and head of the establishment task force for the National Central Infectious Disease Hospital at the National Medical Center.
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