The Ministry of Health and Welfare in South Korea has announced that the Ministry and the Asian Development Bank (ADB) are conducting a joint hands-on training programme to enhance the vaccine production capacity of the Asia Pacific (APAC) region in a bid to eliminate vaccine inequality that has come to the fore in the aftermath of COVID-19 pandemic.

With its designation as WHO’s “Global Training Hub for Biomanufacturing” in February 2022, Korea has been running various training programmes for the biomanufacturing workforce in low- and middle-income countries with a goal to train over 1,500 people a year.

The programmes for the biomanufacturing workforce in the Asia Pacific region are being financed by the ADB. With a total of 36 people from 7 countries set to participate in the programme this year, during its second year, it is being offered for 5 weeks from October 10, 2023, at Yonsei University International Campus in Songdo, Incheon. 

The Ministry of Health and Welfare underscored that it will work closely with the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) and the African Development Bank (AfDB), as well as the World Health Organization (WHO) and the Asian Development Bank (ADB), in training and developing the essential global biomanufacturing workforce, as part of Korea’s key role to play as a ‘Global Training Hub for Biomanufacturing’.