Free Tuberculosis Screening for Citizens and Foreigners! Gimhae City Public Health Center

From 10 AM to 1 PM on the 26th

Treatment with no out-of-pocket cost upon diagnosis

The Gimhae City Public Health Center in Gyeongnam will conduct free tuberculosis screenings on the 26th from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. in observance of World Tuberculosis Day.

The health center announced on the 16th that free screenings will be available to Gimhae citizens and foreigners, including undocumented foreigners who are often overlooked in medical services.

According to the health center, South Korea ranks first among OECD countries in tuberculosis incidence rates.

While the number of tuberculosis patients in the country has steadily decreased, adults aged 65 and older accounted for 51.3% of new tuberculosis cases and 82.4% of tuberculosis deaths in 2021.

Gimhae has a large population of foreign workers and undocumented foreigners, with the proportion of foreign tuberculosis patients reaching 10.2% in 2021, significantly higher than the national average of 4.4%.

The health center plans to focus on including undocumented foreigners who do not receive health insurance benefits in the free screenings, providing free tuberculosis tests such as chest X-rays and sputum tests for those with suspicious findings, and managing symptomatic and suspected cases separately.

If tuberculosis is diagnosed during this screening, patients can receive treatment without any out-of-pocket costs under the health insurance special case system.

Undocumented foreigners are also eligible for free treatment under the Tuberculosis Safety Belt Project.

The health center will promote this information within foreign communities to increase participation among undocumented foreigners.

Additionally, from the 19th to the 26th, during Tuberculosis Prevention Week, the center will hold tuberculosis prevention lectures at the Senior Welfare Center and conduct tuberculosis prevention campaigns at locations including the Gimhae City Public Health Center, Dongsang-dong Foreigners’ Street, Inje University, and Gaya University.

Heo Mok, the head of the health center, stated, “We will strive to improve health equity for citizens and enhance health accessibility for vulnerable groups to extend healthy life expectancy,” and urged, “We ask both citizens and foreigners to actively participate in this free tuberculosis screening.”