1. A delegation of the government of the Republic of Korea, led by Director-General for Development Cooperation Oh Hyun-joo of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, attended the 29th session of the Unitaid Executive Board, held in Divonne-les-Bains, France, from June 20 to 21.

o In the Executive Board session, in recognition of the contributions the ROK has made to the organization, which mainly aims to support the diagnosis and treatment of HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis, and malaria, the world’s three major infectious diseases, the Executive Board decided to change the position of the board member being held by the ROK from the existing “representative of Asian countries” to “representative of the ROK.”

o As a result of the decision, the ROK has won an exclusive seat on the Executive Board like the five founding board members (France, the UK, Norway, Brazil, and Chile) which led the foundation of Unitaid. This will help the ROK actively participate in the activities of the board from its standpoint, maintaining its seat regardless of other Asian country’s board membership.

2. Since the 2nd session of the Executive Board in November 2006, the ROK, as “representative of Asian countries,” has participated in the board’s activities to discuss and make decisions on important issues, including project strategies, and management plans. The ROK has joined the efforts to eradicate the three major infectious diseases by contributing a total of US$55 million to the organization from 2008 till last year through the Global Disease Eradication Fund (successor of the Global Poverty Eradication Contribution).

o Unitaid is a public-private cooperative organization aimed at bringing down the prices of drugs and medical devices, and facilitating quality improvement, technological innovation, and a stable and timely supply of medicines by intervening in the pharmaceutical and medical device market for the three major infectious diseases through innovative ways, including supporting the operation of the Medicines Patent Pool (MPP)*. The organization was established in September 2006 under the leadership of the five founding board members.

* The Medicines Patent Pool (MPP) is a system in which patent holders voluntarily register patent rights, and pharmaceutical companies without patents can produce generic medicines using patents within the pool after paying user fees through more streamlined procedures. Unitaid funded the creation of the system, launched in 2010.

3. In the 29th session, attended by about 70 people, including 12 members of the Executive Board from France, the UK, and other donor countries, recipient countries in Africa, the World Health Organization (WHO), and private organizations representing patients suffering from the three major infectious diseases, the participants also assessed the progress in the implementation of Unitaid’s projects for 2017, as well as organizational management, and discussed project plans for 2018-2020.

o Executive Director of Unitaid Lelio Marmora spoke highly of Korean companies’ technology capacity regarding medicines and medical devices, and said that his organization would continue to expand cooperation with the ROK’s health industry. Thus, it is expected that Korean companies’ participation in the organization’s procurement activities will increase.

4. The ROK government will take an active part in the international community’s efforts to prevent and eliminate infectious diseases, including HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis, and malaria, through the Global Disease Eradication Fund, which is raised by levying KRW 1,000 on each international flight passenger departing from the ROK, and thereby promote sustainable development in developing countries, and contribute to protecting Korean people’s health from infectious diseases in the era of 20 million outbound travelers.

o The air-ticket solidarity levy system, which has been in place since 2007 under the name of the Global Poverty Eradication Contribution, has become a fund regime entitled the Global Disease Eradication Fund pursuant to the Global Disease Eradication Fund Act in force since January 2017. The air-ticket solidarity levy is a representative example of “innovative financing for development” which complements traditional Official Development Assistance (ODA).

* unofficial translation