Speeches and Transcripts
Congratulatory Remarks
Korea National Tuberculosis Association World TB Day
Ambassador Kathleen Stephens
International Conference Hall of the Korea Chamber of Commerce and Industry
March 24, 1:30 to 2:30 p.m.
Minister Jeon Jae-hee, Korea National Tuberculosis Association Chairman Kim Sung-gyu, Rep. Son Sook-Mee, Rep. Lim Doo-Sung, distinguished guests, it is such a pleasure to be here with you this afternoon.
Minister Jeon, I am happy to see you again just three weeks after we launched the joint U.S.-Korea International Tuberculosis Research Center at the National Tuberculosis Association building.
And I thank you and Chairman Kim for inviting me to participate in this ceremony today to commemorate the important work being done by National Tuberculosis Association and other health agencies in Korea to combat tuberculosis and improve the health of Koreans. Congratulations.
In the 127 years since Robert Koch first identified the bacterium that causes tuberculosis, we have discovered penicillin and other antibiotics, and we have learned how to use vaccines. We have even eradicated smallpox from the face of the earth.
And yet tuberculosis remains with us. That is why the work that you do is so important, and that is why I am so pleased to be here to show my appreciation to all of you for your commitment and dedication.
I saw first-hand the suffering caused by tuberculosis when I came to Korea as a Peace Corps Volunteer in 1975. Many of you might remember that one of Peace Corps' biggest programs in Korea in those years was helping TB patients in the rural clinics.
At the launch of the International Tuberculosis Research Center three weeks ago, the ITRC Chairman Song Seon-dae gave me a copy of his book titled “결핵의 길” that recalled those years.
One section of the book recounts some of the cultural and language barriers that Peace Corps health workers faced in Korea.
For example, one Peace Corps Volunteer told a patient to bring in a phlegm sample (가래) for a sputum examination. But the volunteer mispronounced the word, and the next day the patient brought an egg plant (가지) to the clinic.
The situation in Korea is of course vastly improved since those years. The incidence of tuberculosis in Korea in 1975 was more than 3 percent; today it is less than 0.3 percent.
You probably know that Secretary of State Clinton was here one month ago; you may also know that she has a long-standing interest in health issues.
One of the first things she talked to me about after her arrival here was her concern about the high rate of Multi-Drug Resistant tuberculosis in North Korea, and how MDR-TB is a serious and growing threat throughout the world.
That is one of the reasons why the work being done by the joint U.S.-Korean International Tuberculosis Research Center at Masan Hospital is so important.
The United States is committed to fighting tuberculosis throughout the world. Between the years 2000 and 2008, USAID provided over 760 million dollars for TB programs worldwide.
We have contributed almost 3.3 billion dollars to the Global Fund, and last July the Tom Lantos and Henry Hyde United States Global Leadership Against HIV/AIDS, Tuberculosis, and Malaria Reauthorization Act of 2008 was signed into law authorizing up to 48 billion dollars over the next five years to combat these diseases.
As U.S. Ambassador to Korea, I am so pleased and proud to be part of the long history our two countries have in working to treat, control, and prevent tuberculosis.
Our efforts here are, in fact, helping to make the entire world a healthier place and are evidence of how the partnership between our two countries, which used to focus only on the Peninsula, is becoming a force for good and for change and development around the world.
Thank you again for inviting me to participate in this event today.