- The healthcare symposium is being held as a part of France-Korea Year 2015-2016 jointly by the French Embassy and French Medical Alliance in Korea (FMAIK)

- Sharing knowledge of domestic and global experts as well as suggest possible solutions to major healthcare issues such as liver cancer, tuberculosis and antibacterial resistance

- Expected to build strong alliance in the field of healthcare through profound discussion on the key health and medical challenges

December 8, 2016, Seoul | Institut Pasteur Korea (IPK) announced today that it is co-organizing and hosting a symposium entitled ‘French Health Care Day - Managing public health challenges in France and Korea’ on December 9th, in celebration of France-Korea Year 2015-2016. Having both the French Embassy and French Medical Alliance in Korea (FMAIK) as co-partners for this symposium, various stakeholders from public officials to healthcare professionals of both countries will be discussing key global diseases such as liver cancer, tuberculosis and antibacterial resistance throughout the sessions.

During the first session, profound discussion and presentations on Infection Control for Multi Drug Resistant Organisms (MDROs) in healthcare facilities and community will take place by the experts with the aim to reduce the impact as well as limit the spread of antibiotic resistance that is rising to dangerously high levels in the world. This MDRO session will cover current status of resistant bacteria, a surveillance program and future countermeasures including ‘Global-PPS (The Global Point Prevalence Survey of Antimicrobial Consumption and Resistance), ‘GLASS (Global Antimicrobial Resistance Surveillance System) Korea’, and ‘One Health,’ a collaborative effort to attain optimal health for people, animals and the environment. Medical affair director Marie-Francoise GROS from Biomerieux will commence the session with her presentation, which will be followed by those of Prof. Seok Hoon Jeong from Yonsei University, Deputy Scientific Director Kwang Jun Lee from KCDC, and Dr. Soojin Jang from IPK.

In the second session entitled ‘Management of Hepatocellular carcinoma; Current Status and Future Perspectives’, an in-depth look will take place about HCC, the most common type of liver cancer, with its current methods of treatment as well as the paradigm changes in surgical treatment of the disease. The session will be included presentations from Dr. Haengran Seo from IPK, Prof. Yves Menu from Saint-Antoine Hospital, Prof. Kwang-Hyub Han from Yonsei University, and Prof. Kyung-Suk Suh from Seoul National University. During the session, the progressive practices in HCC management, from prediction and prevention among patients with high risk level to various methods of treatments, will be discussed and how imaging can be utilized to follow up patient recovery after treatment.

Under the theme of ‘French-Korea Health Alliances for Tuberculosis (TB) Free’, the last session will seek for the cooperative solutions to cure tuberculosis, for which Korea has the highest incidence and mortality rate of among all OECD countries. The experts including the Head of Tuberculosis Research Laboratory (TRL) Vincent Delorme from IPK, Vice president of Access to Medicine Robert Sebbag from Sanofi, Director of Division of HIV/AIDS and TB control OK Park from Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), and Planning Director of Private-Public Mix (PPM) Jae Seuk Park from Dankook University Hospital will be delivering their views on the disease – from new drug discovery based on the understanding of disease mechanism, and the present and future of tuberculosis screening and treatment to strategies and policies of the Korean government and French-Korean public private partnership in the related matter.

Mr. Fabien Penone, French Ambassador in Korea said, “We are glad to support this first French Health Care Day collaborated among French companies which are leading the industry of life sciences and drug research,”, adding, “The growing partnership between French and Korean companies is key for the development of innovative solutions, best-practices and new products. I hope that this symposium will serve as an opportunity to expand the understandings on public health challenges in both France and Korea, and provide possible solutions for major healthcare issues that Korea is facing.”
Roberto Bruzzone, IPK CEO said, “We are honored to host a distinguished panel of French and Korean scientists, clinicians, and government officials for the French Healthcare Day symposium”, adding, “For over a century, the special relationship between France and Korea has been extremely beneficial to both countries. As a culmination of the yearlong France-Korea Year celebration, this symposium will serve as a forum to address key healthcare issues of global concern with the aim to advance solutions, reduce knowledge gaps and meet patient's needs.”

The France-Korea Year 2015-2016 was established to celebrate 130 years of bilateral diplomatic relationship between France and Korea, and various events in the fields of culture, education, IT, and economy, have been organized in both countries. From September 2015 to August 2016, more than 2.2 million French nationals have experienced the Korean culture via 200 events held in France and events introducing the French culture were also held in Korea since January of this year.

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About Institut Pasteur Korea
Institut Pasteur Korea (IPK) is an international research institute focused on addressing global health issues with a combination of cutting edge approaches in order to understand disease mechanisms and develop new treatments. By promoting multi-disciplinary projects, IPK is at the forefront of drug discovery and an economic growth engine that contributes to Korea’s scientific intellectual and technical resources. IPK has four core missions of public interest – 1) Research, combining front line biology, IT, and chemistry, with innovative cell-based drug discovery platforms that identify novel molecular targets for potential new therapies to treat diseases, 2) Education, offering a wide range of programming to nurture the development of the next generation of scientists and health professionals, 3) Public Health, working in collaboration with national and international health authorities, and 4) Translation of biomedical discoveries to improve health via technology transfer and industrial partnerships.
 
IPK is a member of the Institut Pasteur International Network (Network). As a hub institution, IPK plays a key role in the Network, serving as a bridge between Korea and global bio-pharma science, expanding Korea’s R&D base collaborative research projects with global alliances
 
The institute was established in April 2004 in collaboration with Institut Pasteur Paris and the Korea Institute of Science and Technology (KIST), with support from the Ministry of Science, ICT and Future Planning (MSIP). IPK also has a great supporter in the Gyeonggi Provincial government (2005 – 2015 : Block funding | 2016 – Present : drug discovery co-resarch fund for pharm industries).
 
For more information on Institut Pasteur Korea, visit us at http://www.ip-korea.org/.