Seoul, Dec 1 : South Korea's disease control agency on Sunday said that it has newly designated 66 rare diseases subject to the government's support this year, as per officials.

This brings the total number of rare diseases under state supervision to 1,314, up from 1,248 last year, according to the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency, Yonhap news agency reported.

Once designated, the medical fees for patients with rare diseases are reduced to about 10 per cent of total expenses under the National Health Insurance Service policy, which reduces costs for diseases that require expensive or long-term treatment.

Rare diseases refer to diseases with less than 20,000 patients in the country, or those with an unknown number of patients due to difficulty in diagnosis.

The government designates and proclaims newly added rare diseases up for government support each year under the Rare Disease Management Act.

In 2022, the total number of newly added rare disease patients was tallied at 54,952.

Meanwhile, the chief of global initiative Unitaid, tasked with providing affordable treatments to low- and middle-income nations, has praised South Korea for effectively handling the Covid-19 pandemic.

Unitaid Executive Director Philippe Duneton said that the country offers valuable lessons for the world in addressing future pandemics and existing diseases.

"Korea managed the pandemic in the best way in the world," Duneton said in an interview with Yonhap, noting that the country has shown "discipline and communication," as well as "collective intelligence and responsibility."

South Korea, a major donor to the organisation, has contributed a total of $95 million as of the end of 2023 and has served as a member of the executive board since its establishment.

/IANS