ID :
61752
Thu, 05/21/2009 - 21:09
Auther :

Seoul widens support for fight against diseases in Africa

SEOUL, May 21 (Yonhap) -- South Korea has provided US$300,000 to an international
agency to support research in the development of vaccines for typhoid and
cholera, which have claimed countless lives in Africa in recent decades, a
government aid agency official said Thursday.
"There has been extensive research on vaccines to protect Africans against
malaria and AIDS but little has been done on other febrile illnesses such as
typhoid and cholera," said Lim So-yeon from the Korea International Cooperation
Agency (KOICA). "A systematic and longterm study is essential to combat the fatal
diseases."
KOICA, which oversees South Korea's official development assistance projects,
offered $300,000 to the United Nations International Vaccine Institute (IVI),
established in Seoul as an initiative of the United Nations Development Program
(UNDP) in 1997. IVI has conducted research on vaccines for febrile diseases in
Ghana and Tanzania.
The study is aimed at identifying and detecting an outbreak of the diseases that
have claimed the lives of tens of thousands of children in the world's poorest
continent, as well as developing an effective vaccine to prevent recurring
fatalities.
Every year, 50 children out of 100,000 under the age of 15 are infected with
typhoid in Africa, according to KOICA.
"The study will help curb the high juvenile mortality rate in Africa," Lim said.
KOICA will spend 21.4 billion won (US$17 million) on the development assistance
project with the UNDP and U.N. Fund for Population Activities. More that half of
the budget will be set aside for African nations, Lim added.
brk@yna.co.kr
(END)

X