"Scientific Estimation of Appropriate Medical Workforce Through the Supply and Demand Estimation Committee"
"Strengthening the Social Safety Net and Promoting Public Health Are Core Duties"
Jeong Eunkyung, the newly appointed Minister of Health and Welfare, stated, "I will pursue people-centered healthcare reform that both the public and the medical community can support."
Jeong Eunkyung, Minister of Health and Welfare, is delivering a greeting at the Cabinet meeting presided over by President Lee Jae Myung on the 22nd at the Presidential Office building in Yongsan, Seoul. Photo by Yonhap News
In her inaugural address on the 22nd, Minister Jeong expressed her aspirations, saying, "We will provide necessary medical services to the public in a timely manner and ensure the sustainability of the healthcare system."
She said, "We will introduce a Medical Workforce Supply and Demand Estimation Committee to implement scientific projections for the appropriate workforce size," and added, "We will stably secure regional, essential, and public medical personnel and provide sufficient compensation." She also stated, "We will transfer the management of national university hospitals to the Ministry of Health and Welfare to foster them as control towers for public and essential healthcare in local communities, and we will promote the institutionalization of telemedicine in a way that guarantees both patient safety and convenience."
The Ministry of Health and Welfare will also address one by one the pressing issues it faces, including the ongoing conflict between the government and the medical community that has lasted for a year and six months and the resulting gaps in medical care, the increasing demand for care due to super-aging, as well as the world's highest rates of elderly poverty and suicide.
Minister Jeong emphasized, "There are a multitude of urgent issues that the Ministry of Health and Welfare must resolve, such as the prolonged conflict between the government and the medical community, crises in regional, essential, and public healthcare, increased demand for care due to super-aging, and the world's highest rates of elderly poverty and suicide," and added, "At this time, the Ministry's core duties?strengthening the social safety net and promoting public health?are more important than ever to create a Korea where everyone prospers together."
She went on to announce plans to pursue: ▲ the gradual expansion of child allowances ▲ enhancement of the National and Basic Pensions ▲ strengthening of the Basic Livelihood Security System ▲ expansion of sickness benefits ▲ establishment of customized loneliness response systems for each target group ▲ active identification of households at risk of welfare crisis ▲ improvement of convenience in applying for welfare programs ▲ nationwide expansion of integrated support for medical care, nursing, and caregiving ▲ and the phased application of health insurance to nursing hospital caregiver costs.
Additionally, she stated that the Ministry will promote: ▲ expansion of customized services for people with disabilities ▲ increased support for youth in crisis ▲ establishment of a state-led adoption system ▲ development of a community-based primary healthcare system ▲ reduction of the medical cost burden for patients with rare and intractable diseases ▲ expanded support for suicide prevention among high-risk groups ▲ increased investment in health and medical research and development (R&D) ▲ support for the safe use of health and medical data ▲ establishment of a full-cycle training system for physician-scientists ▲ active participation in National Assembly pension reform special committee discussions ▲ expansion of public jobs for seniors ▲ and strengthened support for people with infertility and pregnant women.
To become a leading nation in health and welfare for the future, the government will strengthen national investments such as the K-Bio and Vaccine Fund, and accelerate pension reform initiatives that have been pursued since the previous administration. Minister Jeong said, "To make the first pension reform in 18 years more effective, we will actively participate in and support the National Assembly's pension reform special committee discussions, including the establishment of a multi-layered old-age income security system."
Minister Jeong said, "As the first Minister of Health and Welfare in the Lee Jae Myung administration, I feel both joy and a deep sense of mission and heavy responsibility," and urged her staff, "The reason for the Ministry's existence is to protect the health and welfare that are fundamental to people's lives. Rather than focusing on how we work, let us deeply reflect on why we do this work."
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