Dear Colleagues,

I would like to welcome you all to the 55th Asia-Pacific Academic Consortium for Public Health(APACPH) Conference 2024 to be held in Busan, South Korea.

First of all, I would sincerely appreciate the Korean Association of Schools of Public Health(KASP), the Korean Society for Preventive Medicine (KSPM) and the APACPH-KOREA for their joint efforts for hosting APACPH Conference 2024.

The world is now developing and implementing innovative strategies to change the response paradigm for the next pandemic and Disease “X” after the COVID-19 pandemic. Rapid detection of infectious diseases through WHO pandemic Hubs, 7-1-7 for rapid response to infectious diseases, and 100-day mission for rapid vaccine manufacturing are example strategies.

The theme of this year's conference is "Shifting Paradigm for Future Society and Community." I think it is a timely topic. In June 2022, Bloomberg once announced that Korea is the most resilient country in the world to COVID-19. South Korea will provide you with the opportunity to experience firsthand the experience of Korea's response to infectious diseases. And we are ready to learn from you.

I am very happy to hold this conference in Busan, the second largest city in Korea and one of the top 25 destinations in the world by National Geographic in 2023. I look forward to meeting you at this conference and hope that the Asia-Pacific region's health promotion and global health security capabilities will be further strengthened. Thank you.