China CDC and Japan NIID hold bilateral leaders meeting

Shen Hongbing, director-general of the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention (China CDC), and Dr Takaji Wakita, director of the Japan National Institute of Infectious Diseases (NIID), held a meeting in Seoul, South Korea, on Dec 4, 2023, on the sidelines of the 17th Korea-Japan-China Forum & Joint Symposium for Communicable Disease Control and Prevention.

 

Shen stated that the China CDC and the NIID have achieved fruitful results in their long-term partnership, including sharing public health information and professional knowledge, exchanging technologies, and collaborating on joint scientific research projects. 

 

He expressed his hope that through high-level exchanges between Chinese and Japanese disease control agencies, a cooperation platform in the fields of health, disease prevention and control can be established, in order to promote the complementary utilization of health resources between the two countries and jointly safeguard the lives and health of the people.

 

Dr Wakita hoped that the two countries will continue to have extensive discussions on topics of common concerns, further negotiate and coordinate cooperation, and strengthen the partnership between the disease control agencies of the two countries.

 

During the meeting, Shen and Dr Wakita exchanged views on further deepening cooperation, including establishing a regular technical exchange mechanism, developing human resources in infectious disease prevention and control, and carrying out personnel training and exchanges. Dr Wakita also briefed Shen about the progress of Japan's disease control agency development.

 

Experts from both China and Japan also conducted exchanges and discussions on such topics as influenza, immunization registration, polio surveillance, and on-site epidemiological training.