Health ministry sends delegation to WHO Western Pacific meeting in Manila

The health ministry said Sunday that South Korea will send a government delegation to the 77th World Health Organization Regional Committee for the Western Pacific in Manila from Oct. 19 to Oct. 22, where it will present its strategy for guaranteeing basic medical care through artificial intelligence.

Kim Jae-woo, the Ministry of Health and Welfare's international cooperation director, will lead the delegation as chief representative, joined by officials from the ministry, the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency and the Korea Institute for Health and Social Affairs. The meeting brings health ministry representatives from 38 Western Pacific member states together each year to discuss regional health issues.

The delegation will use its keynote address to introduce Korea's push to strengthen regional, essential and public health care and its "AI basic medical care" strategy, along with its progress toward universal health coverage. It also plans to promote the 2026 World Bio Summit, which the ministry and the WHO will co-host in Seoul on Oct. 21-22 under the theme of spreading biohealth innovation driven by AI.

"Making sure everyone can be guaranteed basic medical care using AI in the AI era is the starting point of an 'AI basic society'," Kim said in a statement. "As AI is a major agenda item at this regional committee and the theme of the 2026 World Bio Summit, we will actively share our health care achievements with member states in the region, centered on our AI basic medical care strategy."

The meeting opens with a keynote speech by WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus followed by a performance report from Saia Ma'u Piukala, director of the WHO's Western Pacific regional office, and a review by member states of the proposed 2028-2029 programme budget. Discussions will cover regional responses and resolutions on AI, hypertension management, vaccination and tobacco control.

A ministerial roundtable introduced for the first time this year will have member states explore cooperation on regional stockpiles and joint procurement systems to prepare for disruptions to supplies of medicines and vaccines during health emergencies.

Korea has allocated 1.78 billion won ($1.32 million) in 2026 to the Western Pacific regional office's strategic projects, which aim to build capacity in regional countries with a focus on AI, healthy aging and chronic disease response. On the sidelines, the delegation will hold bilateral talks with the Western Pacific regional director and with Australia and Japan on multilateral health cooperation through the WHO.