Meticulous Prevention, Comprehensive Care... Uljin County to Strengthen Health Policies in 2026

Responding to Super-Aging, Chronic Diseases, and Low Birth Rates
Expanding Lifelong Health Services for All Residents

Prevention is best when implemented early, and care should never be distant.

Uljin County in North Gyeongsang Province will strengthen its prevention-focused public health policies and resident-centered health management projects in 2026, in response to the region's complex health challenges of super-aging, increasing chronic diseases, and low birth rates.

The Uljin County Public Health Center is pursuing integrated healthcare services that cover the entire life cycle, from daily health practices and care for medically vulnerable groups to infectious disease response, with the goal of achieving "A Healthy and Hopeful Uljin for All Residents."

This special report examines the major health projects and changes that Uljin residents will actually experience in 2026, by category.

▲ Making Healthy Residents Even Healthier

Resident Participation-Based Health Management in Daily Life

Uljin County is focusing on enabling residents to protect their own health and fostering a culture of collective health practices.

The county is promoting the "Longevity 88 Healthy Villages" project in 30 villages, providing gymnastics and yoga instructors twice a week for 10 months to help about 500 seniors incorporate regular physical activity into their daily routines. This goes beyond simple exercise support, establishing a community-centered model for health promotion.

Additionally, the county is expanding the foundation for daily health management through mobile healthcare services and the walking initiative "Walking Towards Health."

The mobile healthcare program offers 24 weeks of one-on-one tailored health management for 150 high-risk residents aged 19 and older, contributing to the prevention of chronic diseases and strengthening self-care capabilities.

The "Walking Towards Health" project encourages daily walking by providing a 10,000-won Uljin Love Card recharge, via a lottery, to 300 residents who walk more than 150,000 steps per month over 10 months.

Efforts to create a smoke-free environment are also ongoing. In 2025, the smoking cessation clinic supported 334 newly registered smokers in quitting, while six smoking cessation supervisors inspected over 2,000 designated non-smoking areas to reduce secondhand smoke exposure and help establish a "Smoke-Free Uljin."

Furthermore, the county, in cooperation with the Community Social Security Council and Korea Hydro & Nuclear Power, conducted comprehensive health checkups for 4,500 residents, earning the Excellence Award in Cancer Prevention and Management from North Gyeongsang Province for improving the national cancer screening rate. For low-income seniors, the county continues to provide eye care support in partnership with the Korea Foundation for the Prevention of Blindness.

▲ Direct Healthcare Services for Medically Vulnerable Groups

Minimizing Gaps in Care through Home Visits and Home-Based Medical Services

Uljin County is expanding home-visit healthcare services for areas with low medical accessibility and for vulnerable groups.

Using a health bus, the county provided 208 sessions of Korean medicine consultations, physical therapy, blood pressure and blood sugar checks, and health counseling to 3,656 people in 129 medically underserved villages. During winter, the "Visiting Health Class" is run with participation from specialists such as Korean medicine doctors, dentists, and nurses.

The county is also focusing on preventing cardiovascular and cerebrovascular diseases. It held 228 resident education sessions (4,593 participants) and 24 self-help classes for hypertension and diabetes, and, in partnership with Jeil Eye Clinic, offered free eye exams to 200 diabetes patients. These prevention-focused efforts have led to increased awareness of early symptoms of stroke and myocardial infarction, as well as blood pressure and blood sugar, earning the county the Excellence Award in Cardiovascular and Cerebrovascular Disease Prevention and Management from North Gyeongsang Province.

Nurses also visit homes directly or provide ICT-integrated home health management services by lending activity trackers, blood pressure monitors, blood glucose meters, and AI speakers to smartphone users, thereby strengthening both in-person and remote personalized health management.

Notably, starting in 2026, with the implementation of the "Act on Integrated Support for Community-Based Care Including Medical and Nursing Services," the county will launch a pilot project for a home-based long-term care medical center in cooperation with Nuga Clinic. Teams consisting of doctors, nurses, and social workers will visit the homes of seniors with mobility issues and people with disabilities to provide integrated medical and care services.

▲ Robust Support from Birth to Child-Rearing

Exercise for Childbirth Preparation Class. Provided by Uljin County

Uljin, a Great Place to Raise Children-Proven by Policy

As a core policy to address low birth rates, Uljin County is strengthening support for pregnancy, childbirth, and child-rearing, investing a total of 1.8 billion won in related projects.

Before childbirth, the county supports about 540 people annually with health checkup coupons for prospective couples and mothers, prenatal and ultrasound coupons, folic acid and iron supplements, the Nutrition Plus program, and medical expense support for mothers aged 35 and older.

After childbirth, the county provides practical relief for parenting burdens by supporting about 1,800 newborns and young children annually with childbirth incentives, newborn health insurance, First Meeting Vouchers, birth celebration gifts, discounts on public postpartum care center fees, maternal and newborn health management, and the Baby Love childcare goods rental program.

Especially from 2026, the coverage of health insurance for newborns will be significantly expanded, increasing from 25 types to 32, including new coverage for fracture diagnosis, cerebrovascular and ischemic heart disease diagnosis and surgery, which is expected to greatly reduce the medical expenses for families with newborns.

▲ Health Policies that Care for the Mind as Well

Dementia Overcoming and Missing Prevention Project.

Dementia and Mental Health: A Shared Responsibility for the Community

In Uljin County, where seniors make up 33.6% of the population, dementia and mental health issues are challenges that the entire community must address together.

The Dementia Safety Center conducted dementia screening for about 2,500 people in 2025, and 1,234 dementia patients are currently registered, with a registration management rate of 75.2%. This is significantly higher than the national average of 60.1%.

Uljin County is focusing on alleviating concerns about dementia by providing integrated services that cover the entire process, from prevention and early detection to treatment linkage and family support.

The Mental Health Welfare Center provided mental health services to about 1,500 people in 2025 and trained 1,225 "life guardians" to promote a culture of respect for life.

In 2026, the county will continue to operate counseling and crisis response services, and will closely support residents' mental health through disaster psychological support, life-stage mental health promotion, suicide prevention education, and campaigns.

▲ Preemptive Blocking of Infectious Diseases is Key

Tuberculosis Screening.

Safe Uljin through Prevention, Quarantine, and Vaccination

The Uljin County Public Health Center operates a constant surveillance system for 90 legally designated infectious diseases and immediately conducts epidemiological investigations and responses upon notification.

Tuberculosis, which has a high mortality rate, is under intensive management by the Public Health Center's Tuberculosis Department, which conducts year-round mobile tuberculosis screening and prevention education to block community spread.

In the area of quarantine, the county proactively blocks infectious disease risk factors through mobile quarantine at 542 vulnerable locations, village quarantine across 233 courses by town and township, and pest control in rainwater drainage channels.

Vaccination programs are also being expanded. The county provides 19 types of national childhood vaccinations, as well as influenza, shingles, pneumococcal, and COVID-19 vaccinations. As a pioneering policy, Uljin is the first in North Gyeongsang Province to offer free influenza vaccinations to residents aged 14 to 64 and expanded shingles vaccinations to those aged 50 and older.

An official from the Public Health Center stated, "Uljin County's health policy in 2026 goes beyond simply providing medical services and focuses on building a health safety net that protects all aspects of residents' lives. We will continue to implement health administration that residents can truly feel in their daily lives, so that everyone can enjoy a healthy life."