"Korean Medicine Clinic Certificates Excluded from Transportation Vulnerable Screening... Human Rights Commission Finds Discrimination"

"Diagnosis Certificates from Doctors and Korean Medicine Doctors Are Subject to the Same Legal Standards"

The National Human Rights Commission of Korea has determined that the exclusion of diagnosis certificates from Korean medicine clinics and hospitals by a local government in the screening process for special transportation services for the transportation vulnerable constitutes discrimination.

Delivery ceremony of call taxis for transportation-vulnerable individuals. Not directly related to the article. The Asia Business Daily DB

On March 18, the Human Rights Commission announced that it had recommended corrective action to a local government that had excluded Korean medicine clinics and hospitals from the list of medical institutions able to assess "temporarily transportation vulnerable individuals." The local government in question excluded diagnosis certificates issued by Korean medicine clinics and hospitals from the review process, citing budget constraints after an increase in applications for special transportation services such as call taxis for people with disabilities.

The Commission stated that the determination should be made based on the content of the diagnosis, not the type of medical institution. Since diagnosis certificates issued by doctors and Korean medicine doctors are subject to the same laws and standards, it is considered unreasonable discrimination to uniformly exclude certificates from specific institutions without a rational reason.

The Commission also pointed out that it was inappropriate to apply the "criteria for persons with disabilities" from a notice by the Ministry of Health and Welfare directly to the screening of temporarily transportation vulnerable individuals. The intent is that the standards, which are for different groups, were inappropriately applied in this context.

A Commission official stated, "The practice of excluding diagnosis certificates based on the type of medical institution in the screening process for special transportation service eligibility needs to be improved."

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