Bill Gates, South Korea expand global health partnership (updated)

SK Bioscience Co

16/08/2022 11:56

(Recasts with memorandum of understanding, adds TV tag)
    By Joori Roh and Joyce Lee
    SEOUL, Aug 16 (Reuters) - South Korea agreed on Tuesday to
expand its global health partnership with the foundation set up
by Microsoft Corp  MSFT.O  co-founder and philanthropist Bill
Gates. 
    The deal came after Gates arrived in South Korea late on
Monday, calling for Seoul to play a bigger role in global health
and to increase aid.
    The agreement includes strengthening private and public
sector cooperation between the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation
and South Korea in projects such as a global health research
fund, and stepping up cooperation with health organisations
including CEPI, South Korea's foreign and health ministries said
in a statement. 
    The Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (CEPI)
works with public, private, philanthropic and civil society
organisations to develop vaccines against future epidemics.
    South Korea will also help to train 370 people from
lower-income countries in vaccine production this year, which
will be expanded to 2,000 people per year starting 2026, the
ministries said. 
    "This is a crisis moment for global health. This is also a
fantastic time for our foundation to strengthen partnership with
Korea, providing great ideas for new tools and more resources to
help those in need," Gates said in a speech at the National
Assembly earlier on Tuesday.
    While meeting with South Korean National Assembly Speaker
Kim Jin-pyo and other lawmakers, Gates called for increasing
funding for groups that help improve health conditions in poor
countries and prevent pandemics, and asked if South Korea would
be able to scale up its international aid to 1.3% of GDP.
    Gates then met President Yoon Suk-yeol, who said the South
Korean government wanted a cooperative relationship with Gates'
foundation to foster high-quality bio-health technologies. 
    Gates also met with leaders at SK Bioscience  302440.KS 
which received $10 million in funding from CEPI to develop its
COVID-19 vaccine.  urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nS6N2Z600J

 (Reporting by Joori Roh and Joyce Lee, Additional reporting by
Hyonhee Shin; Editing by Jacqueline Wong and Mark Potter)
 ((joori.roh@thomsonreuters.com; +82 2 6936 1493;))