Pediatricians expressed hope that Jeong Eun-kyeong, the former commissioner of the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA), who was nominated as the new health and welfare minister, will rebuild the pediatric healthcare system, which is on the verge of collapse.

“Jeong was nominated as the health and welfare minister because of her medical expertise and the rational attitude she showed in her role as Covid-19 commander,” the Korea Children’s Hospital Association said in a statement on Monday. “We firmly believe that she will rebuild K-pediatric healthcare after her appointment.”

“She must be well aware of the reality that when children get sick, there are no hospitals to treat them, so they spend all night circling the emergency room, and severely ill patients cannot even be treated in tertiary general hospitals,” it said. “We hope she does her best to develop policies that will rebuild the K-pediatric medical care up and show the genuine advanced aspect.”

The association emphasized the need for a genuine policy shift that alters the structure of the pediatric medical system rather than just a stopgap fee increase or a one-time policy.

“President Lee Jae Myung said out loud throughout his campaign that he would ‘build a real Korea from now on,’” it. “For pediatricians who have seen the reality of pediatric healthcare collapse over the past few years, this has become a desperate hope, not just a slogan.”

The government must designate pediatric healthcare as a national essential medical service and institutionalize sustainable financial support,” it said, calling for the enactment of the Basic Children's Health Act, the establishment of a pediatric emergency, hospitalization, and intensive care infrastructure, and improved treatment for pediatricians.

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The Korea Children’s Hospital Association expressed its expectation over the nomination of Jeong Eun-kyeong to the minister of health and welfare. (Credit: Getty Images)