People's Solidarity for Participatory Democracy "KMA Must Pay the Price for Causing Medical Service Gaps"

[Asia Economy Reporter Song Seung-yoon] As the Korea Medical Association (KMA) began the second nationwide doctors' strike on the 26th, civic groups urged the strike to be halted.

On the same day, the People's Solidarity for Participatory Democracy issued a statement saying, "With growing concerns over the resurgence of COVID-19, it is more important than ever to protect the public nature of healthcare," and added, "The KMA's irresponsible actions to enforce their interests by holding citizens' lives and national security hostage are unacceptable."

The group argued, "The KMA's claim of 'oversupply' as a justification for refusing medical treatment has no objective basis," and stated, "The number of doctors per 1,000 people in our country is only 70% of the OECD average, and the number of graduates in medical fields is decreasing. If the current medical school quotas are maintained, the gap with the OECD average will widen further."

They continued, "Even without specifically mentioning the Medical Service Act, which prohibits collective actions that interfere with patient care, the KMA's actions causing medical service gaps must bear corresponding consequences."

Furthermore, they emphasized, "The lesson from the COVID-19 crisis is that successful quarantine cannot be sustained without strengthening public healthcare," and urged, "The government must promptly present policies to strengthen public healthcare as an alternative to overcome the infectious disease crisis posed by COVID-19."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.