Lack of Legal Attention Despite Increasing Cases of Dementia

Over 1 Million Dementia Patients Approaching, Yet Related Legislation Discussions Stagnant
Four Related Bill Amendments Proposed This Year

[Asia Economy Reporters Kum Boryeong, Kwon Hyunji] As the speed of ultra-aging accelerates, the era of 1 million dementia patients is approaching. However, there are criticisms that the pace of revising related laws for dementia patients in the National Assembly is significantly lagging behind.

According to the National Assembly Bill Information System on the 21st, a total of four partial amendments to the 'Dementia Management Act' have been proposed this year, but none have yet been submitted for discussion. Bills proposed last year are currently under discussion.

The contents of the proposed bills are not significantly different. Half of the eight bills suggest replacing the word 'dementia' with another term. This is because the word carries the meaning of 'foolish,' which could cause shame to dementia patients and their families. There is a lack of concrete content to support dementia patients. Because of this, there are suspicions that these proposals are more about increasing the number of bills rather than actual law amendments.

Discussions on bills with other content are also sluggish. Last year, Representative Choi Hyung-doo of the People Power Party proposed a bill to include special city mayors among the local government heads who must be notified when the Minister of Health and Welfare finalizes or changes a comprehensive plan for dementia management. The Ministry of Health and Welfare stated in its review report that this seems to be a necessary legislative measure, but the bill remains under review. Representative Cho Jeong-hoon of the Transition Korea party also proposed a bill last April to establish a legal basis for support projects that develop and distribute services to suppress progression to dementia in cases where mild cognitive impairment is diagnosed during early screening at dementia safety centers, but it has yet to be discussed.

It is also difficult to find mentions of dementia or dementia patients in the standing committee meetings themselves. Reviewing the minutes of the Health and Welfare Committee meetings from last year and this year, dementia safety hospital-related content appeared briefly only in the meeting on February 17 last year.

A National Assembly official explained, "In the National Assembly, the elderly and aging fields are often considered futuristic topics or not very helpful for votes during elections, so discussions rarely progress and bills often expire with the end of the term." He added, "If a bill is submitted, it should be discussed seriously from the beginning."

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