“After the outbreak and the spread of the MERS virus, the Korean government has realized the need to reexamine the nation’s quarantine system thoroughly. We will cooperate with experts from both at home and abroad, including the World Health Organization (WHO) and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), in fundamentally drawing up a new quarantine system to better cope with new types of contagious viruses.”

So said President Park Geun-hye when she held talks with WHO Director-General Margaret Chan at Cheong Wa Dae on June 19. During the talks, President Park called for the WHO director-general to dispatch experts to the nation to help inspect the current quarantine system to prevent the spread of the disease, as well as to help establish a new quarantine system to better cope with the crisis.

The president also expressed her gratitude to the U.N. health agency for having cooperated with the nation in responding to the MERS crisis. They then came up with ideas on how to draw international cooperation in enhancing the quarantine system to effectively respond to new types of contagious diseases.

“The WHO dispatched experts just after the outbreak of the MERS virus. The experts immediately found out what caused the outbreak and offered measures to stop the further spread of the disease in time,” said President Park. “I am really grateful to the WHO for informing the international community of the crisis that hit the nation. Its swift response has helped us to take preventive measures against the virus immediately and effectively,” she continued.

“Korea is a country that has put in place an excellent medical system, including health care service of high quality and health insurance,” said the WHO director-general. “People have easy access to hospitals and patients are easily transferred from one hospital to another. The merit, however, became the culprit behind the fast spread of the virus, as people came to see their family members or friends in hospital,” she added.

“It’s natural that if this kind of unexpected disease breaks out, any country will get lost at first, not knowing how to deal with it. Korea, too, seemed to underestimate the virus at first, and failed to take proper action to prevent the disease in the initial stages. Since then, however, the nation has made all-out efforts to keep the further spread of the virus at bay, by strengthening its quarantine system swiftly and systematically,” Chan said.



Chan also noted that a recent shutdown of schools sparked by what she said was unscientific grounds is undesirable, as it could cause public concerns. “I think that the president’s recent visits to schools are an excellent move. It’s more important to reopen schools and to teach students wash their hands frequently,” she stressed. “The central government also needs to cooperate with local governmental bodies to upgrade the quarantine system. The public, too, should abide by the government’s guidelines against the disease.”

“Seoul will host the Global Health Security Agenda conference in September this year. The conference will allow the international community to exchange a range of information and experiences in dealing with new contagious viruses, as well as to further enhance international cooperation in this regard,” President Park emphasized.

By Jeon Han, Sohn JiAe
Korea.net Staff Writers
Photos: Cheng Wa Dae
hanjeon@korea.kr