THE Philippines, through Manila’s embassy in South Korea, has donated $20,000 to the International Vaccine Institute (IVI) to support its operation, the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) said.

Philippine Ambassador to South Korea Theresa Dizon-de Vega announced the Philippine government’s voluntary contribution to the IVI fund for 2023.

She made the announcement during the inauguration ceremony of South

Korea First Lady Kim Keon Hee as the fifth honorary president of the Korea Support Committee for IV at the IVI Seoul headquarters.

The Philippines is a state party to the IVI, a nonprofit international organization established in 1997 at the initiative of the United Nations Development Program with a mission to discover, develop, and deliver safe, effective and affordable vaccines for global health, the DFA said.

“With this modest funding commitment, the Philippines looks forward to supporting IVI’s recent efforts in infectious disease research and vaccine research and development, helping create a platform for dialogue and future collaboration, and continuing our close relationship with the IVI as a state party in the years to come,” it added.

IVI Director General Dr. Jerome Kim thanked the government “for its continued trust in and support of IVI and our work to research and develop vaccines against infectious diseases that affect the world’s most vulnerable populations.”

“As a founding signatory and state party of IVI since 2004, the Philippines has been a valuable collaborator in vaccine clinical development projects and disease burden studies to protect and save millions of lives at risk of povertyassociated diseases such as typhoid fever, dengue, cholera and tuberculosis,” Kim said.