President listens to the experts
To the relief of many, President Moon Jae-in has called for a complete review of the just-unveiled scheme to upgrade the Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (KCDC). It is a bold but right step that will address the necessity to fortify the nation's diseases prevention and treatment ability when crises occur.
The center has been crucial in its fight against COVID-19. The President recognized this and pledged to imbue “independence and expertise,” i.e. power to set its own budget and personnel.
At the center of a controversy over the plan announced last week was KCDC's National Institute of Health (KNIH), the research arm responsible for infectious disease treatment and vaccine research. The unit will be expanded and transferred to the Ministry of Health and Welfare, under the new plan.
Experts have expressed skepticism, with one expert filing a petition on the Cheong Wa Dae online site. More importantly, calmly spoken KCDC Director Jung Eun-kyeong has said that the centers must have a research unit and function. The President has listened to the experts.
The health ministry has said that the plan was to strengthen research not only into infectious diseases but also health and medical treatment in general. But coupled with the plan to establish another deputy minister post at the ministry, eyebrows have been raised as to whether or not organizational interest was really at play.
The unknown trajectory of COVID-19 has shed light on the effectiveness of experts in spearheading and holding the “control tower” function in disease control and prevention. South Korea learned that lesson from its experience of struggles in the fight against Middle East Respiratory Syndrome in 2015 where experts took the back seat to government officials. The need for more experts has also put forth the need for public debate about the need to expand the quota for medical schools.
Lying at the heart of the KCDC becoming independent and expanded is to protect the citizens and improve the ability to combat unknown diseases. The planned discussions among related government agencies hopefully will not lose sight of this goal.