The National Rehabilitation Center (NRC) will serve another four years as a World Health Organization collaborating center for rehabilitation in recognition of the center's activities. Shown is a group photo taken in August last year of participants at an NRC training session in Cambodia. (NRC)

By Charles Audouin

The National Rehabilitation Center (NRC) under the Ministry of Health and Welfare on Feb. 17 announced the extension of the center's term as a World Health Organization (WHO) collaborating center in rehabilitation.

This means the NRC will remain such a center through Jan. 12, 2029.

As the country's first agency to get the designation in 2017, the NRC has provided capacity-building programs for rehabilitation personnel like doctors, nurses and therapists in countries such as Cambodia, Thailand, Mongolia and Fiji, hosted international seminars or workshops and conducted research to compile international data on disabilities.

The extension also means continued collaborations with WHO in activities like improving health equity for people with disabilities in the Western Pacific, providing assistance in health and medical technology, and strengthening the roles of policymakers and medical workers in policy toward disability and rehabilitation.

WHO collaborating centers help with research, training, technical assistance and data sharing in public health. The non-governmental organization has over 800 such facilities in 80 countries, with 10 in eight states focused on rehabilitation.

caudouin@korea.kr