Health Minister Cho Kyu-hong: "The Year of Medical Reform to Save Lives and Communities"
New Year's Address by the Minister of Health and Welfare in 2024
Minister of Health and Welfare Cho Kyu-hong expressed a strong commitment to establishing an essential and regional medical system, stating that "2024 will be the inaugural year of medical reform that saves lives and communities."
In his New Year's address on the 1st, Minister Cho said, "In 2023, the Ministry of Health and Welfare had a busy year under the values of welfare for the vulnerable, expansion of essential medical services, and pursuing reform tasks for a sustainable future," but added, "Many challenges still lie ahead of us." He pointed out new challenges, saying, "The difficulties of vulnerable groups continue due to high inflation and low growth, and the trends of low birthrate and aging population are rapidly worsening," and "The avoidance of essential medical fields and the medical disparity between regions are issues that must be resolved promptly."
Minister Cho, emphasizing that "the Ministry of Health and Welfare's budget allocated for 2024 is 122.3779 trillion won, the largest ever and the biggest among individual government ministries," identified ▲medical reform ▲welfare for the vulnerable ▲health and welfare innovation as the core tasks for this year. Regarding medical reform, he stated, "We will make 2024 the inaugural year of medical reform that saves lives and communities," and added, "We will implement policies to establish an essential and regional medical system that the public trusts and medical professionals take pride in, by solving the shortage of medical personnel and establishing a fair compensation system." He also mentioned that through innovations in health insurance, a solid foundation will be laid for medical reform to take firm root.
On welfare for the vulnerable, he said, "The government will take responsibility for alleviating caregiving concerns by not only reducing caregiving costs but also improving service quality and reorganizing the provision system," and "We will strengthen income support for vulnerable groups and improve the medical safety net to reduce burdens caused by low growth and high inflation and enhance quality of life." He also pledged to expand resources such as psychological counseling and to advance the crisis household detection system using ICT.
Hot Picks Today
"Could I Also Receive 370 Billion Won?"... No Limit on 'Stock Manipulation Whistleblower Rewards' Starting the 26th
- Samsung Electronics Labor-Management Reach Agreement, General Strike Postponed... "Deficit-Business Unit Allocation Deferred for One Year"
- "From a 70 Million Won Loss to a 350 Million Won Profit with Samsung and SK hynix"... 'Stock Jackpot' Grandfather Gains Attention
- "Stocks Are Not Taxed, but Annual Crypto Gains Over 2.5 Million Won to Be Taxed Next Year... Investors Push Back"
- "Who Is Visiting Japan These Days?" The Once-Crowded Tourist Spots Empty Out... What's Happening?
Regarding health and welfare innovation, he stated, "We will secure future growth engines," emphasizing, "We recognize the deepening low birthrate as a grave threat to national existence and will prepare drastic measures, including a revolutionary overhaul of the population crisis response system." He also highlighted strengthening research and development (R&D) support in high-cost and high-impact fields, investing in the bio and health sectors to establish health security and create new markets, and completing pension reform.
© The Asia Business Daily(www.asiae.co.kr). All rights reserved.
