Myongji Hospital said it plans to provide free health checkups to migrant women living in Goyang and Paju, Gyeonggi Province.

According to the hospital, 31 women from Mongolia, Cambodia, Ghana, Vietnam, Thailand, and Myanmar participated in the free health checkup screening on Saturday.

The hospital provided them with general checkups, cancer screenings, and additional tests to determine their health statuses, such as hepatitis B and total cholesterol index.

The annual event started in 2015 in cooperation with We Friends, a health association for migrants living in Korea, to support healthy lives for migrant women from multicultural families, who are medically vulnerable. 

The hospital has held the event one to three times a year, except for the last three years when it was impossible to gather many people due to the Covid-19 outbreak.

To date, 965 people have benefited from the program.

The hospital stressed that as a hospital representing the region, Myongji Hospital plans to expand its medical service to not only migrant women from multicultural families but also to the medically vulnerable, such as low-income families and the elderly.

"Many migrant women from multicultural families work in physically demanding labor environments such as agriculture, manufacturing, and cleaning, but it is difficult for them to access medical services due to economic reasons and language differences," Myongji Hospital President Kim Jin-goo said. "Early detection and management of diseases through screening will help improve the quality of life of migrant women."

Meanwhile, Myongji Hospital has been conducting active social activities by establishing the "People Sharing Fund" through annual employee donations, external donations, and event proceeds.

The fund helps support medical expenses and care costs for the medically vulnerable. It also provides scholarships for children and helps build specialized facilities for the elderly with developmental disabilities.