'Controversy Over the Continuation of Non-Face-to-Face Medical Services in Gwangju Area'

Dual-Income Couples and Single-Person Households Centered "Must Continue to Allow"

Medical Industry "Risky Due to Concerns of Misdiagnosis in Non-Face-to-Face"

The temporarily authorized 'non-face-to-face medical consultation' service, which was introduced due to COVID-19, is now facing the risk of being discontinued, sparking divided opinions on whether it should continue or be stopped.

A pediatric clinic located in Buk-gu, Gwangju Metropolitan City, saw more than 39 patients waiting by around 9 a.m., less than 30 minutes after the start of consultations on the 28th.
[Photo by Min Hyun-gi]

Non-face-to-face medical consultation is a service where patients receive medical care remotely from doctors via mobile phones or IT devices. After the government declared an infectious disease crisis alert at the 'serious' level following the outbreak of COVID-19 in 2020, it was temporarily permitted based on the Infectious Disease Control and Prevention Act, and it is reported that over 13 million people used the service during the pandemic.

However, controversy has arisen as the WHO COVID-19 Emergency Committee is expected to lift the international public health emergency, and the government is reportedly considering lowering the infectious disease crisis alert level to 'caution' early next month. If the government lowers the crisis alert, non-face-to-face medical consultations will become illegal again, as they were before COVID-19.

Citizens who have heard this news are appealing for the necessity of non-face-to-face medical consultations. This is because single-person households, office workers, self-employed individuals, and parents with young children find it difficult to visit hospitals frequently due to their busy lives.

Kim Ji-seok (26), a recent university graduate working shifts at a teacher training center in Gwangju, expressed concern that the non-face-to-face medical consultation system might disappear. Kim said, "The company is small, so the shift schedule is tight. If I take time off, the senior has to work longer, so I felt pressured and have been using the non-face-to-face medical consultation app. I hope this system can be firmly established through this opportunity."

Parents raising children also support maintaining the current non-face-to-face medical consultation system. On the 28th, posts appeared on Gwangju-area mom cafes and social media such as, "When my kids have a mild cold, I get medicine through non-face-to-face consultations, so I hope it doesn't disappear," and "For working couples, taking kids to the hospital in the morning is a big challenge. How about promoting non-face-to-face medical consultations as part of childbirth policies?"

Given the situation, a petition campaign has also emerged. Non-face-to-face medical consultation platform companies have been conducting a 'Protect Non-Face-to-Face Medical Consultation Petition' since the 13th, and as of the 28th, more than 110,000 signatures have been collected.

On the other hand, the medical community argues that non-face-to-face medical consultations should be abolished.

They state that while it may be possible to review the dosage of previously prescribed medication through public health centers for patients with chronic diseases such as hypertension or diabetes who have difficulty visiting hospitals, there has been no detailed review of non-face-to-face medical consultations yet, leaving many shortcomings. They warn that relying on remote consultations increases the risk of misdiagnosis and that the health and lives of the public should not be compromised for industrial or economic reasons.

A representative from the Gwangju Medical Association said, "When a doctor meets a patient face-to-face, they do not just listen to the symptoms. From the patient's gait when entering the consultation room to conducting precise examinations on the areas mentioned by the patient, this is the true role of a doctor. Conducting non-face-to-face consultations during initial visits or when meeting a patient for the first time is extremely risky."

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