04 December 2024, Seoul. Ambassador Theresa Dizon-De Vega participated in the Global Health Roundtable with Ambassadors in Korea held on 27 November 2024 at the National Assembly of the Republic of Korea.

Hon. Jumin Park, Chair of the Health and Welfare Committee of the National Assembly of the Republic of Korea who is also the President of the Korean Parliamentarian Forum on Global Health led the roundtable discussions which aims to foster enhanced cooperation between the Republic of Korea and the countries of the broader Asia-Pacific region in the field of health.

Hon. Park was joined by Assembly Members from the Health and Welfare Committee namely Hon. Miae Kim, Hon. Sunwoo Kang, Hon. Boyun Choi and Hon. Yoon Kim in welcoming the participants. Assembly Member Jiho Cha of the National Assembly Foreign Affairs and Unification Committee and Secretary-General of the Korean Parliamentarian Forum on Global Health and Mr. Ilsoo Ha, President of the Korea Foundation for International Healthcare also joined the roundtable.

Ambassador Dizon-De Vega shared the Philippines’ health initiatives such as the implementation of the Universal Healthcare (UHC) Law that guarantees accessibility of quality healthcare for all Filipinos. She also mentioned the challenges facing the PH healthcare sector on the need to improve health infrastructure, streamline management of health insurance, digitalization of health services, data and records management and vaccine development.

The Ambassador also underscored that Philippines and the Republic of Korea should leverage on the important provisions of the Philippines-Korea Joint Declaration of Strategic Partnership and collaborate on key priorities on health including on digital health innovations; sustainable and equitable health financing mechanisms; health security, strengthening of pandemic preparedness and health system resiliency, and innovative technologies for diagnostics and treatment; knowledge exchanges on effective health promotion programs and interventions, human resource development and management for the health workers; pharmaceutical industry particularly in facilitating joint research and development mechanisms for drug development, biotechnology, and biomanufacturing; and establishment of infrastructures for vaccine development.

Officials from the ROK Ministry of Health and Welfare (MOHW), Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA), Korea International Cooperation Agency (KOICA), National Health Insurance Service (NHIS) and the Korea Foundation for International Health Care (KOFIH), shared brief introduction on their mandates and international cooperation initiatives.

Ambassadors and representatives from the Embassies of Sri Lanka, Lao PDR, Mongolia, Uzbekistan, Indonesia and Vietnam delivered their respective countries’ health priorities during the meeting.

The roundtable discussion also served as a platform for the participating countries to share collaborative opportunities to address shared health challenges across the Asia Pacific region. END