KPHA Condemns Local Governments for Opposing Monthly 100,000 Won Increase in Public Health Doctor Incentives Frozen for 7 Years

Local Governments Criticized for Blocking Incentive Increase
KPHA Calls for Improved Compensation and Efficiency in Public Health Services

The Korean Public Health Doctors Association (KPHA) announced on the 19th that it condemns local governments for blocking the increase of the monthly 100,000 won incentive for public health doctors, which has been frozen for seven years.

The medical incentive is an integrated allowance paid to public health doctors. Due to the nature of their military service, their base salary is very low, so this allowance accounts for a significant portion of their monthly income. Currently, the incentive stands at 900,000 won per month and has not changed since 2018.

However, the KPHA argues that the rationale provided by local governments-citing "budget shortages" as the reason for opposing a 100,000 won monthly increase in the incentive, which constitutes a substantial part of the doctors' real income-is irresponsible, especially considering that the inflation rate from 2018 to 2024 has reached 14.8% and the wage increase rate for public officials has also risen by 11.7%.

The association also criticized unnecessary itinerant medical services. According to medical records from local health subcenters, out of 1,228 centers nationwide, 791 centers (64.4%) see five or fewer patients per day on average. There are 524 centers (42.7%) that see three or fewer patients per day, and 170 centers (13.8%) see fewer than one patient per day on average. A total of 526 health subcenters have a private medical institution (clinic or hospital) within a 1 km radius, and 818 centers (64.2%) have at least one private medical institution within a 4 km radius. The association argues that this demonstrates the need to improve the efficiency of health subcenter operations.

Lee Sunhwan, president of the KPHA, stated, "While local governments remain indifferent to the treatment of those dedicated to community healthcare and simply stand by, they label workforce shortages caused by administrative inefficiency as medical service gaps. As a result, the tragedy of the commons is unfolding, with a shortage of public health doctors in remote areas where help is truly needed."