[2021 Budget] COVID-19 Treatment and Vaccine Development Support Budget, 40% Increase from This Year

Researchers at the International Vaccine Institute (IVI) are conducting experiments related to vaccine development.<이미지:Yonhap News>

[Asia Economy Reporter Choi Dae-yeol] To respond to infectious disease disaster situations such as the novel coronavirus infection (COVID-19), the budget for quarantine and the overall medical system will be increased compared to this year. Full support will also be provided for the development of COVID-19 therapeutics and vaccines, which took its first full step through this year’s supplementary budget.

According to the 2021 Ministry of Health and Welfare budget plan confirmed at the Cabinet meeting on the 1st, 62.7 billion KRW has been allocated for clinical support of therapeutic development under the name of infectious disease-related research and development (R&D). Since COVID-19 emerged in January this year, there was no allocation in the main budget this year, and only 45 billion KRW was reflected in the supplementary budget, but next year it will be increased by about 39% compared to that. For clinical support for COVID-19 vaccine development, 68.7 billion KRW has been allocated, which is 40% more than this year’s supplementary budget.

Additionally, 16.5 billion KRW will be spent on quarantine-related R&D such as upgrading quarantine equipment and diagnostic devices, and developing technology for quarantine sites. Similarly, there was no allocation in this year’s main budget, but 8.5 billion KRW was secured in the supplementary budget, and the budget will be nearly doubled. The infectious disease-related R&D budget will generally increase, including establishing a foundation for clinical information data analysis of COVID-19 confirmed patients, antiviral drug evaluation laboratories, public vaccine development support centers, and infrastructure for the National Institute of Infectious Diseases.

Budgets have been evenly increased for building electronic quarantine inspection stations using advanced information and communication technologies such as mobile apps and kiosks, strengthening infectious disease testing capabilities, expanding and educating epidemiological investigators. The operation budget for the National Medical Center, which serves as the central infectious disease hospital, has been set at 36.3 billion KRW, a 13% increase from this year, and budgets have also been increased for expanding isolation rooms in national hospitals and establishing regional infectious disease specialized hospitals. For respiratory clinics, which are being prioritized mainly at public health centers, 50 billion KRW has been allocated for next year, the same amount as in this year’s supplementary budget. The plan is to operate a total of 1,000 clinics, 500 this year and 500 next year.

Furthermore, to strengthen the public nature of regional base hospitals, the number of responsible medical institutions by region and area will be increased. The support budget for strengthening health insurance coverage, promoted under the current government, has been tentatively set at 9.5 trillion KRW, a 6% increase compared to this year. Budgets for mental health promotion projects (90.9 billion KRW), suicide prevention and life-respecting culture projects (34.9 billion KRW), and expansion of community health centers (26.9 billion KRW) will increase by double digits. Budgets will also be increased for projects named under the Korean New Deal, such as ICT-based health management pilot projects and mobile healthcare at public health centers.

Welfare sector budgets will also increase. Livelihood and medical benefits will increase by about 6% and 10% respectively compared to this year, and budgets for national support for long-term care insurance for the elderly, customized care services for the elderly, support for activities of the disabled, and support for people with developmental disabilities are expected to increase by double digits compared to this year. The basic pension has been tentatively set at 14.9634 trillion KRW, about 14% higher than this year, and the disability pension at 829.1 billion KRW, a 6% increase. Budgets related to regenerative medicine, such as clinical research on advanced regenerative medicine (10 billion KRW) and the pan-government regenerative medicine technology development project (6.4 billion KRW), have been allocated for the first time this year, while budgets related to medical devices and new drug development will be more than doubled or newly allocated, providing full support for fostering K-BioHealth.

If this budget plan is finalized, the total expenditure of the Ministry of Health and Welfare next year is expected to be 90.1536 trillion KRW, a 9.2% increase from this year. This accounts for 16.2% of the government’s total expenditure, 0.1 percentage points higher than this year. The social welfare sector will increase by 9.4%, and the health sector by 8.2% compared to this year. The Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency, which will be separated into a separate agency this month, has a tentative budget of 915.9 billion KRW for next year, a 12.1% increase from this year.