Jeonnam Province Expands 'Early Life Health Management Support Project' to 11 Cities and Counties

6 Additional Cities and Counties Selected for Ministry of Health and Welfare Public Contest Projects

Jeonnam Province is expanding its early life health management support project from the existing 5 cities and counties to 11 cities and counties.

On the 8th, the province announced that 6 cities and counties, the most among 18 nationwide, were selected in the Ministry of Health and Welfare’s “Early Life Health Management Support Project” competition.

The Early Life Health Management Support Project is a program where professionals such as nurses and social workers visit homes directly to provide customized health management services including counseling and education to promote the health of pregnant women and infants under 2 years old.

Until last year, the project was operated in 5 cities and counties: Suncheon, Hwasun, Jangheung, Haenam, and Sinan. This year, it will be promoted in a total of 11 cities and counties including the 6 newly selected ones: Gwangyang, Damyang, Goheung, Gangjin, Jangseong, and Jindo.

After conducting health assessments for pregnant women, high-risk groups receive continuous support from professionals who visit from prenatal stages until the child turns 2 years old, providing health counseling, parenting environment checks, and community linkage services.

The program has received great response in rural fishing and farming areas with low medical facility infrastructure and limited information access.

Jeong Gwang-seon, Director of Population and Youth Policy at Jeonnam Province, said, “To overcome low birth rates, systematic health management support is necessary for the increasing number of elderly and high-risk pregnant women,” adding, “We will actively provide policy support to expand the project to all cities and counties.”

In addition, the province is promoting various projects to help healthy pregnancy and childbirth, such as supporting health checkup costs for newlyweds (prospective couples) (170,000 KRW for women, 90,000 KRW for men) and providing up to 3 million KRW in medical expenses for high-risk pregnant women.