Gimcheon-si Receives 'Minister of the Interior and Safety Award' for Excellence in Low Birthrate Case with '100-Day Operation for Mother and Baby Care'

Discovering Maternal and Infant Care Services... Supporting Health Management for Mothers and Newborns

[Asia Economy Yeongnam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Park Dong-wook] Gyeongsangbuk-do announced on the 2nd that Gimcheon City, selected as the representative of Gyeongbuk at the '2020 Local Government Low Birthrate Response Best Practice Competition' held at the Government Sejong Convention Center on July 30, will receive the Minister of the Interior and Safety Award along with a special grant of 60 million KRW.

At this competition hosted by the Ministry of the Interior and Safety, a total of 11 outstanding local government policies to overcome low birthrate were introduced, including 3 metropolitan and 8 basic local governments. The project presented by Gimcheon City, titled '100-Day Operation for Mother and Baby Care,' targets mothers and newborns residing in Gimcheon City since 2020, providing health management support and covering 90% of the out-of-pocket expenses for mother and baby care services (extended up to 30 days of use).

Gimcheon City is the first in the nation to develop a mother and baby care service policy to address the continuous decline in birthrate and reduce the economic burden of childbirth and child-rearing, supporting health management for mothers and newborns. The response to the project has been positive, with increasing demand for additional support for mother and baby care services every year, resulting in an increase in the utilization rate of health management support from 58.8% last year to 79% this year.

Gyeongbuk Province won the grand prize (Presidential Citation) at the 2019 Low Birthrate Overcoming Best Practice Competition and has been recognized by the government as an excellent case in the joint government evaluation for overcoming low birthrate policies in Gyeongbuk.

Accordingly, this year the province has allocated 1 billion KRW for its own 'Low Birthrate Response and Infrastructure Building Contest Project,' promoting 12 projects in 9 cities and counties. Additionally, 3 projects from 2 cities/counties (Mungyeong and Gunwi) related to low birthrate and population decline were selected in central government contests, receiving national funding of 575 million KRW.

Lee Won-kyung, Director of the Gyeongbuk Province Child and Women’s Happiness Bureau, emphasized, "We will actively discover support projects for population policies considering various characteristics to respond to the socially recognized issues of low birthrate and population decline."