1. The Korean government has decided to contribute US$1 million to Unitaid to expand the distribution of COVID-19 test kits in the developing countries.

o On December 2, Director-General for Development Cooperation Cho Yeongmoo and Unitaid’s Executive Director Philippe Duneton held a virtual signing ceremony during which they signed the memorandum of understanding outlining Korea’s support.

2. Unitaid is a hosted partnership of the World Health Organization (in Geneva, Switzerland) established in September 2006 with the aim of supporting the development of innovative medicines and medical devices to diagnose and treat HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria. The organization is taking an active part in the “Access to COVID-19 Tools Accelerator (ACT-A).”

o In particular, Unitaid, in cooperation with the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC), is carrying out a project for distributing rapid antigen test kits for COVID-19 in Africa.

3. Korea has been participating in the Executive Board of Unitaid since November 2006, and has contributed a total of US$70 million since 2008. With this additional contribution of US$1 million on top of the contribution of US$5 million made through the Global Disease Eradication Fund, Korea has contributed a total of US$6 million to Unitaid this year.

4. The additional contribution of US$1 million to support the Diagnostic Partnership of the Access to COVID-19 Tools Accelerator is expected to contribute to strengthening developing countries’ COVID-19 diagnostic capacity especially in Africa.

5. The Korean government has provided bilateral humanitarian assistance worth US$60 million, including the provision of Korean test kits and masks, to around 120 countries including countries with vulnerable health systems and COVID-19-affected countries. The government will also continue to cooperate with health partnerships to contribute to the international community’s efforts to overcome the COVID-19 pandemic.