Busan City, First Among Local Governments Nationwide to Support Psychological Healing for Organ Donors' Bereaved Families

From the 24th, Busan to Support Psychiatric Treatment Costs for Families of Organ Donors

Two Designated Medical Institutions Sign MOU, Attended by Director of Citizen Health Bureau and Hospital Directors

Busan Metropolitan City will launch the nation's first "Psychological Healing Support Program for Families of Organ and Human Tissue Donors" starting on the 24th.

Busan City Hall

This initiative follows the city's amendment of the "Busan Metropolitan City Ordinance on the Promotion of Organ and Human Tissue Donation" in December 2022, which established the legal basis for supporting psychological healing programs to enhance respect for the families of organ donors.

Based on this ordinance, the city has secured a budget of 20 million KRW this year to implement the "Psychological Healing Support Program for Families of Organ and Human Tissue Donors."

The program provides financial support for psychiatric consultations (including examinations) at designated medical institutions for families of organ donors residing in Busan, covering up to five sessions per person and a maximum of 500,000 KRW in total.

The city will oversee the overall management of the program and provide financial support for medical expenses, while the Korea Organ Tissue Donation Agency will manage donor families, accept applications from eligible recipients, and refer them for medical consultations.

Families of organ donors who wish to participate in the support program can apply through the Yeongnam Branch of the Korea Organ Tissue Donation Agency.

Afterward, the Yeongnam Branch of the Korea Organ Tissue Donation Agency will confirm the eligible recipients and notify the city, which will review the cases and refer them to medical institutions. The designated medical institutions will then provide psychiatric consultations to the families of organ donors.

Additionally, the city plans to sign a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with two medical institutions that will provide psychiatric services to families of organ and human tissue donors at City Hall at 1:30 p.m. on the 20th.

The medical institutions participating in the agreement are Maeumhyanggi Hospital and Haeundae Jamyeong Hospital.

The signing ceremony will be attended by the Director of the City Citizens' Health Bureau and the heads of the participating hospitals, who will sign the MOU.

The city expects that this support program will further activate psychological healing programs to help alleviate the emotional distress of families of organ and tissue donors.

Although there are about 400 to 500 cases of brain-dead organ donations nationwide and about 40 cases in Busan each year, psychological healing programs for donor families have not been widely implemented.

While major countries overseas provide psychological treatment programs for families of organ donors, in Korea, only a few organizations such as the Korea Organ Tissue Donation Agency have offered psychological counseling services for these families.

This year, the city also plans to carry out various promotional activities for organ and human tissue donation, including campaigns to encourage donor registration and commemorative events for Organ Donation Day, in cooperation with district and county public health centers and organ transplant promotion organizations.

There are approximately 50,000 people waiting for organ transplants nationwide, but the number of brain-dead organ donors per million population in Korea was only 7.88 as of 2022.

The city plans to improve public awareness and dispel misunderstandings about organ and human tissue donation through various promotional campaigns, fostering a positive social atmosphere for donation.

Lee Sora, Director of the City Citizens' Health Bureau, stated, "We have established this support program, the first of its kind among local governments nationwide, to enhance respect for families of organ donors and help them return to daily life through psychological healing. We hope that, starting with our city, psychological healing support programs for families of organ donors will become more widely available across the country."

Support Project Structure.

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