Infectious diseases remain a leading cause of deaths worldwide and have been disproportionately affecting low-income countries and especially young children. Korea, encouraged by the recent advancement of its pharmaceutical industry, is looking for new ways to help resolve such problems.
One of the latest projects the Korean government and the private sectors have launched to resolve the issue is the Research Investment for Global Health Technology Fund or RIGHT Fund. Established in Seoul last year, the RIGHT Fund is the first public-private partnership, involving the government, pharmaceutical companies, and the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation (BMGF).
The foundation pursues practical investment into projects, which deliver tangible global health solutions and focus on Korea’s original and innovative concepts for vaccines, therapeutics, and diagnostics. All this is aimed to alleviate the harms of infectious diseases affecting low-income countries that have a hard time controlling the matter on its own. The foundation plans to invest a total of 50 billion won ($42.3 million) for five years to achieve some of its goals.