'Sunlight is the best disinfectant'
Lee Wang-jun / Courtesy of the Korean Doctors’ Weekly
English language media for in-depth biomedical coverage launched
By Lee Kyung-min
Launching English language media that covers in-depth biomedical, healthcare issues in Korea was the only way to help competitive local businesses in the sector expand globally, according to Lee Wang-jun, the publisher of the Korea Biomedical Review (KBR), Friday.
KBR was launched last month, as a sister paper to its Korean version, the Korean Doctors’ Weekly, a newspaper established in 1992 by a group of 360 young doctors and medical students.
“I know it was a bold move, but I could not delay it anymore,” said Lee 52, the chairman of Myongji Hospital in Gyeonggi Province, during an interview at the newspaper’s office in Sangsu-dong, Mapo, Seoul.
“My job requires a lot of overseas travelling, and every time I visit hospitals and biomedical firms, high-end or otherwise, I see an ample opportunity for success of Korean firms there, or at least successful cooperation between Korean businesses and their overseas counterparts,” he said.
Most overseas businesses are open to partnering with competitive Korean firms, but they do not have enough information to verify the firms’ supposed reputation due to a lack of news coverage.
“Let’s say a global firm, a potential buyer or investor, has a meeting with a small- or medium-sized start-up here. The first thing the firm’s representatives would do is to google the name of the startup. And guess what, unless covered by the English newspapers in Korea, there are no stories, none, about the firm, critical or otherwise.
“Then they become incredulous about the startup’s enthusiastic argument about the excellent, unmatched quality of its products. Rightly so, as there is no evidence, so to speak,” Lee said.
Such a seemingly purely business-oriented approach is included in but not limited to why he thought KBR was needed.
The Korean healthcare system, he said, is known for its cost-effectiveness, with many foreigners expressing interest in adopting universal coverage in such a short period of time.
Both developed and developing countries want to learn from Korea _ the former for the know-how over the cost-effectiveness and the latter for the stable management of a state-run healthcare service as an institution.
“For example, public officials and scholars want to know how Korea manages to keep the cost of medical surgery and outpatient treatment low. They wonder who came up with the idea to set up a place for a funeral home inside a hospital, which also houses a morgue.
“They also wonder how such a small numbers of nurses are able to help manage many patients and how a doctor manages to treat or diagnose after seeing a patient for only three minutes or less.”
However, learning it all at once quickly is impossible without understanding the historical context of how the country achieved modernization so fast, he added.
Another reason for launching KBR is to meet the growing demand from foreign patients that are interested in undergoing medical treatment in Korea, after learning of its reputation that the cost is fairly moderate for its advanced technology.
“Currently, almost no information is available about Korea’s specific medical costs, the reputation of hospitals and clinics, or the extent of insurance coverage eligible,
“While the Korea Health Industry Development Institute has an English website, it fails to tend to the need of those possible customers. Rather it misleads them due to incorrect information,” Lee said.
The KBR will not spare any Korean firms involved in alleged irregularities or criminal activity, Lee added.
“Dong-A Pharmaceutical, DongWha Pharmaceutical and Huons are being investigated over suspicion that they offered kickbacks to doctors in return for promoting their products.
“Dong-A Pharmaceutical and Dong Wha Pharmaceutical were punished after being found guilty. While this was major news in Korea, overseas buyers have no idea what these firms were alleged to have done. Why? Because it was not reported in English,” Lee said.
Medical malpractice will also decrease, Lee expected.
“Korea is not one of those countries that impose severe punishment on doctors for medical malpractice. If more news is published about such instances, this would change as well.”
All these concerns will be dispelled once the KBR publishes a lot of up-to-date stories with strenuous journalistic standards, he stressed.
“English should no longer be a deterrent to competitive local healthcare and biomedical businesses that seek to expand their global presence against multinational companies,” Lee said.
“I will make sure the KBR is there to achieve that goal.”