Over 1000 members of Shincheonji Church of Jesus in South Korea has participated in donation of plasma for the cure of COVID-19. This is contained in a Press statement signed by Hannah Moore sent to Time Nigeria.
According to the statement, “This is carried out under the invitation of the health authorities in South Korea back on 24th, asking Shincheonji Church to cooperate for donating additional plasma for the development of the vaccine. This is contained in a release
“Early this year, around 5,000 confirmed cases were found in Shincheonji Church members with most infections from the city of Daegu, while most of them recovered from the virus with 11 deaths.
“According to the report from the Korea Centers for Diseases Control and Prevention (KCDC), 562 recovered members from the church registered to donate plasma and 409 completed donation in July through the cooperation between KCDC and Shincheonji Church. Facing the need for “facilitation of developing a cure through plasma donation and clinical trial”, the KCDC asked another round of a large-scale donation by members of Shincheonji Church in August.
“The KCDC in its official document expressed appreciation to Shincheonji Church (Chairman Lee, Man Hee) for “active participation in the collection of plasma as a group for the development of corona(virus) cure for the purpose of national health safety under the global crisis caused by the COVID-19.”
“With the cooperation of Daegu city, Daegu Athletics Center plans to provide the space, and GC Pharma plans to provide the necessary equipment and personnel from 27th August to 4th September. We express our gratitude to the city for providing a location for the group donations. We also express our gratitude to the congregation members of the religious organization, Shincheonji to be specific,” said Mr. Kwon Jun-wook, Deputy Director of the KCDC.
“Research and development of the convalescent plasma treatment is underway by National Institute of Health under the Ministry of Health and Welfare in cooperation with Green Cross (GC) Pharma, a biotechnology company in South Korea.
“On the same day, the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) authorized an emergency use of convalescent plasma for the treatment of COVID-19. Experts say that more data need to be collected to see the benefit of such treatment.
“Major challenges of researching the effectiveness and the development of convalescent plasma treatment come from limited supply from donors who must be recovered from the virus.
“As a religious leader, Chairman Lee, Man Hee of Shincheonji in July said, “This (plasma donation) is the work that needs to be done as citizens of this country and as true believers. It is keeping the command of Jesus of loving your neighbor as yourself (Mt 22:39 of the Bible).”
It would be recalled that Global Leaders had in the past urged South Korean Government and the UN to correct religious oppression in the name of Covid-19 Quarantine.
Nothing that, since the outbreak of COVID-19, a minor religious group named Shincheonji Church of Jesus has been scapedgoated by the South Korean government for being “responsible” for the coronavirus, even though the virus was transmitted from China, not South Korea. The members of the church are not being protected by the nation, rather oppressed and discriminated.
On August 17th, the Coalition of Caribbean Leaders for Peace (CCLP) consisting of the former and current leaders in the Caribbean, together with the former president of the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) sent a joint letter to South Korean Foreign Minister, Kang Kyung-wha and the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, Michelle Bachelet.
It pointed out that the South Korean government’s ignorance about the current situation would set a dangerous global precedent for allowing similar persecution, violence, and harassment against other religious minorities.
