[2024 Budget] Eliminating 'Emergency Room Roundabout' and Strengthening Global R&D Support

Ministry of Health and Welfare 2024 Budget Proposal

Healthcare Sector 'Strengthening Essential Medical Systems'
Enabling 24-Hour Pediatric Specialist Consultation
Industry Sector 'Enhancing Global Competitiveness'
'K-ARPA-H', 'Boston-Korea Project'

The Ministry of Health and Welfare has set the establishment of a pediatric medical system and a comprehensive review of the essential medical system as key tasks for next year. In terms of industry promotion, active research and development (R&D) support is being strengthened, leveraging President Yoon Suk-yeol's visit to the Boston bio-cluster in the United States, including initiatives such as the 'Korean-style ARPA-H' and the 'Boston-Korea Project.'

Minister of Health and Welfare Kyoohong Cho. Photo by Dongjoo Yoon doso7@

The Ministry announced that the Ministry of Health and Welfare's budget proposal for next year, which includes these details, was approved at the Cabinet meeting on the morning of the 29th. The total expenditure of the ministry is KRW 122.4538 trillion, an increase of 12.2% compared to this year. It accounts for 18.6% of the government's total expenditure of KRW 656.9 trillion. A ministry official explained, "(The increase rate of the Ministry of Health and Welfare's budget) is more than four times the government's total expenditure growth rate of 2.8%," adding, "It reflects the government's determination to boldly invest properly in areas that the nation must support, such as assistance for socially vulnerable groups and investment for the future."

To this end, the Ministry has set as core tasks the establishment of a 'regionally complete essential medical system' in healthcare and the 'strengthening of global competitiveness in the bio and digital health sectors' in industry.

Eliminating 'Emergency Room Ping-Pong' and Enabling 24-Hour Pediatric Care

Regarding the essential medical system, the ministry aims to ensure that all emergency patients can receive final treatment promptly within their region, with a particular focus on strengthening the pediatric medical system. Considering the worsening mental health of the public, preventive projects centered on early intervention will also be conducted.

In emergency patient transport, which recently sparked controversy over 'emergency room ping-pong,' four regional emergency medical situation rooms will be established, and personnel at the Central Emergency Medical Center will be expanded to quickly decide on transport hospitals and safely transfer patients. One dedicated ambulance and one doctor helicopter will be added each. A pilot project to reorganize the emergency medical delivery system will be operated in six regions to ensure that critically ill emergency patients can be treated within the golden hour anywhere. Additionally, the rotational on-call system among hospitals within regions will be strengthened to enable surgeries and procedures at all times. A total of KRW 103.9 billion will be invested next year for programs such as the Emergency Medical Support Development Program (KRW 54.6 billion), Emergency Medical Transport System Support (KRW 25.7 billion), and Central Emergency Medical Center Operation Support (KRW 23.6 billion).

Improvement Plan for the Pediatric Medical System by the Ministry of Health and Welfare
[Image Source=Ministry of Health and Welfare]

To establish a pediatric medical system, which has recently emerged as a social issue, a stepwise pediatric medical system will be built from 24-hour pediatric counseling centers and Moonlight Children's Hospitals to pediatric specialized emergency medical centers, children's public specialized hospitals, and cancer base hospitals. The plan is to create a pediatric medical system that covers everything from mild colds to pediatric cancer in stages. Operating expenses for 45 Moonlight Children's Hospitals nationwide, which provide care during nights and weekends, will be supported, and a 24-hour pediatric specialized counseling center service will be launched to allow medical consultations by phone at any time. A budget of KRW 9.2 billion has been allocated for this. The number of pediatric specialized emergency medical centers will be increased to 12, and the support amount, which was previously capped at KRW 500 million depending on the number of specialists, will be changed to provide KRW 100 million per specialist without an upper limit to ensure smooth provision of specialized emergency care.

Infrastructure for treating severe pediatric patients such as those with pediatric cancer will also be expanded. Five regional base hospitals will be developed so that pediatric cancer patients can receive necessary treatment near their residence without having to travel to Seoul. KRW 6.4 billion has been newly allocated for this next year. The number of children's public specialized treatment centers will be increased by two from the current 12 to provide specialized treatment for severe pediatric patients. A budget of KRW 6.1 billion has been allocated.

The 'National Mental Health Investment Project,' which aims to expand mental health services from treatment-focused to prevention-centered, will also be newly established and expanded. Starting next year, psychological counseling services will be available to all citizens in need, beginning with medium- and high-risk groups. KRW 53.9 billion has been allocated for this purpose.

Will the US Visit Results Materialize? 'K-ARPA-H' and Boston-Linked Project

For the development of the pharmaceutical, bio, and healthcare industries, two major R&D projects?the 'Korean-style ARPA-H Project' and the 'Boston-Korea Project'?have been proposed as the main pillars.

The Korean-style ARPA-H Project, which will receive KRW 49.5 billion in investment next year, is modeled after the US Advanced Research Projects Agency for Health (ARPA-H). ARPA-H is an institution established under the National Institutes of Health (NIH) in 2022, promoting an 'innovative healthcare research system.' It is modeled after the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) and focuses on strengthening NIH's research innovation and rapid industrialization support.

The Korean-style ARPA-H will adopt rapid procedures, tolerance for mistakes, and large-scale multidisciplinary R&D, setting five major core missions: ▲establishing health security ▲overcoming unmet diseases ▲biohealth innovation ▲improving welfare and care ▲expanding essential medical services. In terms of health security, goals are expected to include developing vaccine production capabilities within 100 days within five years and acquiring the ability to rapidly block unknown infectious diseases within five minutes within ten years. From next year until 2033, a total project cost of KRW 1.9314 trillion will be invested to contribute to enhancing national R&D productivity.

President Yoon Suk-yeol, who made a state visit to the United States last April, is speaking at a dialogue with MIT digital bio scholars held at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in Boston. Professor Robert Langer of MIT (center), recognized as a world-renowned scholar, and others were seated together at this event. [Image source=Yonhap News]

The Boston-Korea Project, which is expected to receive KRW 60.4 billion, aims to create synergy through global joint research between excellent domestic research institutions and leading research institutions in Boston. This was proposed at the Global Cluster Strategy Meeting for Advanced Industries held in June, presided over by President Yoon Suk-yeol, who visited the Boston bio-cluster in April. By combining the solid know-how and research capabilities of the Boston bio-cluster, including the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), with the abundant clinical data and talent of domestic institutions, it is expected to enable data-based convergence research, expand the base for digital bio cooperation, develop Korean-style convergence education programs, and train physician-scientists.

Through the introduction of such large-scale R&D projects, R&D investment to secure future growth engines will increase by KRW 83.4 billion to KRW 780.1 billion compared to the previous year. Additionally, KRW 7.7 billion has been allocated to establish an accelerator platform to support global market entry. To address the ongoing workforce shortage issue in the domestic industry, a global bio campus will be established as a World Health Organization (WHO) global bio workforce training hub to provide education and training on vaccine and biopharmaceutical production processes. KRW 5.9 billion is planned to be invested in this.

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