Nearly 30 percent of pharmaceutical companies and medical device makers provided economic benefits for medical workers in 2022.According to the fact-finding survey, 27.7 percent of these businesses provided 20.47 million products worth 880.7 billion won ($682.1/1 million) for doctors, nurses, pharma
In response to the government's “Mental Health Policy Innovation Plan,” the National Assembly has urged it to proceed after analyzing the sustainability of policy implementation.Regarding the proposed introduction of the “judicial hospitalization system,” which draws keen public attention, the Assem
The year 2023 marked significant transformations in the medical and pharmaceutical sectors. Despite facing resistance from the medical community, President Yoon Suk Yeol's administration declared its intention to increase the number of medical school seats starting in 2025. Additionally, 2023 witnes
The government’s “integrated diagnostic support project for rare diseases,” expanded in 2023, has tripled the number of its beneficiaries compared to 2022 while nearly halving their diagnosis time.The Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KCDA) announced the project's results on Thursday.The
The government has set a goal of creating two global blockbuster innovative drugs with annual sales of more than 1 trillion won ($768 million) by innovating the biohealth industry and doubling exports in the biohealth sector.To this end, it also will train 3 percent of medical school graduates as ph
The Ministry of Health and Welfare's budget for 2024 has been fixed at about 122.37 trillion won ($94.06 billion), up 12.1 percent from this year. The budget for strengthening essential medical care increased by 57 billion won during the National Assembly deliberations.The ministry said Thursday tha
Following the initial pilot project for herb medicine reimbursement, a mere 33.2 percent of participating organizations prescribed the medicine, leading to a financial execution rate of only 3.9 percent.However, according to health officials, the government will push ahead with the second pilot proj
Despite the decline in the pediatric population, the number of "pediatric chronic multiple diseases" and the cost of treatment has increased, providing another reason for maintaining the pediatric specialty care system, a report said.The Health Insurance Review and Assessment Service (HIRA) said so
Up to one in every five Koreans has been diagnosed with hypertension and 9 percent with diabetes, with 90 of them receiving treatment.On the other hand, the rate of recognizing early symptoms of stroke was low, remaining in the 60 percent range, and that of recognizing early symptoms of myocardial i
This column deals with treatment strategies for rare genetic diseases. I would like to discuss the recycling of existing drugs. In technical terms, it is called “drug repositioning” or “drug repurposing.” In Korean, the term is also translated as “drug reinvention” or “drug recycling.” None of them
An opposition lawmaker pushes to expand the number of medical institutions that can provide CAR-T therapies, including Kymriah, to treat cancer patients.Rep. Shin Hyun-young of the Democratic Party of Korea (DPK) submitted a bill to amend the Act on Safety and Support for Advanced Regenerative Medic
The Ministry of Health and Welfare will expand the number of medical institutions subject to deploying dedicated staff for patient safety staff from 25 percent to 40 percent by 2027.On Thursday, the ministry held the 14th National Patient Safety Committee and approved the 2nd Patient Safety Comprehe
Korea's injury-related medical expenses reached 5.3 trillion won ($4.9 billion) in 2021, the highest in a decade, according to a survey.The Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA) said Thursday that it is publishing the 13th National Injury Statistics in collaboration with 13 other agenci
The survival rate of cardiac arrest patients in Korea was 7.8 percent in 2022, up 0.5 percentage points from 7.3 percent in 2021.The Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA) and the National Fire Agency (NFA) held the “12th Sudden Cardiac Arrest Survey Symposium” on Wednesday. They announc
Ajou University Hospital said Tuesday that Professor Jang Seok-jun of the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology was recently elected the next president of the Asian Society for Gynecologic Oncology (ASGO) at its eighth congress in Taiwan.Professor Jang will serve a two-year term from December 2025
A plan to introduce an “elderly primary care physician system” is being pushed to improve the health of older adults and prevent and treat diseases.Rep. Shin Hyun-young of the Democratic Party of Korea introduced the “Elderly Welfare Act Amendment Bill' on Thursday.Korea's primary care physician sys
The National Assembly is pushing to mandate braille and sign language use on medical certificates and prescriptions for visually and hearing-impaired people.Rep. Kim Min-seok of the Democratic Party of Korea recently proposed a bill to amend the Medical Service Act to that effect.The main content of
Starting in the first half of 2024, health insurance will be applied to treatment costs for drug addicts.The Ministry of Health and Welfare held the Health Insurance Policy Review Committee on Tuesday to decide on a plan to apply health insurance benefits to treat and protect drug addicts.The govern