Incheon City Provides 'Nanum Medical Care' for Foreign Patients in Medical Blind Spots... 16 Supported Over 4 Years

Refugee Adem (center) from Ethiopia who received childbirth cost support through the free medical sharing project for foreign patients.
[Photo by Incheon City]

[Asia Economy Reporter Park Hyesook] Incheon City and the Incheon Tourism Organization will continue their sharing medical project for underprivileged foreign patients in collaboration with local medical institutions this year.

This project was initiated to support socially vulnerable groups by providing free medical services such as treatment and surgery to foreign patients in medical blind spots, and to promote the excellence of medical institutions in the Incheon area.

Last year, through the Catholic University Incheon St. Mary's Hospital, five foreign patients from four countries, including descendants of independence activists who received kidney surgery, were supported. Since 2018, a total of 16 foreign patients have received free treatment and surgery.

The first beneficiary of this year's sharing medical service was Adem (pseudonym, 28 years old), a refugee from Ethiopia who gave birth at Seoul Women's Hospital in commemoration of World Refugee Day (June 20).

Adem came to Korea in 2017 and resides in Incheon, but as a 'refugee applicant' who has not yet been recognized as a refugee, she is not covered by the National Health Insurance and faced a situation where she had to bear many hospital expenses due to pregnancy and childbirth.

After receiving this news from the Korea Migrant Human Rights Center, Seoul Women's Hospital joined forces with Incheon City and the Incheon Tourism Organization to support Adem's childbirth expenses.

The city and the organization plan to support five foreign patients with sharing medical services starting with Seoul Women's Hospital this year in cooperation with local medical institutions.

In particular, due to COVID-19, support had been limited to foreigners residing in Korea for the past two years, but from this year, they plan to invite overseas patients from medically underserved areas to provide free treatment and surgery.

Also, due to the nature of sharing medical services, high-cost treatment fees for severe patients and patient invitation expenses occur, so they decided to expand the support funds per medical institution.

An official from Incheon City stated, "Through the sharing medical project, we aim to fulfill the social responsibility of public institutions and promote the excellence of Incheon medical institutions worldwide," adding, "Furthermore, we plan to carry out various projects to strengthen friendly relations with overseas countries and activate the attraction of foreign patients."

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