The Korea Foundation for International Healthcare (KOFIH) signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) on December 12, 2025, with the World Health Organization Regional Office for the Western Pacific (WPRO) to enhance the capacity of the health workforce in Pacific Island Countries.

The partnership will be implemented based on the Pacific Open Learning Health Net (POLHN), a remote learning platform for Pacific Island Countries, with a particular focus on strengthening Fiji’s capacity for noncommunicable disease (NCD) management. The signing ceremony was attended by KOFIH President Il-Soo Ha and WHO WPRO Regional Director Saia Ma’u Piukala, reaffirming the two organizations’ shared commitment to expanding global health cooperation.

Pacific Island Countries are facing a rapidly increasing burden of noncommunicable diseases due to population aging and changes in lifestyle. However, shortages of public health personnel and limited access to education caused by geographic constraints have posed significant challenges to the delivery of health services.

In response, KOFIH, in collaboration with the WHO WPRO, plans to fully launch a digital-based education and training program for health workers focused on NCD management.

POLHN, the core platform of this project, was established in 2003 to provide tailored lifelong learning opportunities for health workers in Pacific Island Countries. In 2025, it was integrated into the WHO Academy, the World Health Organization’s global lifelong learning platform, and is now operated as part of this system.

Through this agreement, the two organizations will carry out specific activities, including ▲ development of two online education modules on chronic diseases for health professionals; ▲ support for strengthening the continuing professional development (CPD) accreditation system; and ▲ expansion of the POLHN Fellowship Program to support nurses and other health personnel in pursuing graduate-level education.

These efforts are expected to enhance the professional expertise of Fiji’s health workforce and contribute more broadly to achieving universal health coverage (UHC) and sustainable health workforce development in Pacific Island Countries.

President Ha stated that, building on KOFIH’s accumulated experience in global health cooperation and its digital education expertise, it will actively contribute to strengthening NCD response capacity and establishing a sustainable health workforce development system in Pacific Island Countries.

Dr. Saia Ma’u Piukala, Regional Director of WPRO, also noted that the agreement would further solidify cooperation between the two organizations to strengthen health system capacity in Pacific Island Countries.

Going forward, KOFIH and the WHO WPRO plan to continue follow-up cooperation based on this MOU to build digital health education infrastructure and strengthen global health cooperation networks.