By Kim Hyun-bin
Korea's national healthcare plan that provides coverage for key diseases has enhanced the country's health. But there are several rural regions that are not able to receive sufficient medical services, where in some cases patients end up on their death beds.
The nation's medical services gap has been widening between big cities and rural areas, according to government statistics.
According to the Ministry of Health and Welfare's (MOHW) 2017 medical treatment report, most of the high-quality healthcare resources are concentrated in metropolitan areas, creating a wider gap with rural regions.
The number of people who would not have died if treated in North Chungcheong Province was 58.5 per 100,000 people, while that in Seoul was 44.6, meaning the amenable mortality rate (AMR), which is preventable death when treated, of North Chungcheong Province was 31 percent higher than Seoul's.
Yeongyang County in North Gyeongsang Province had a 3.6 times higher AMR than Gangnam District in Seoul, which is one of the richest districts in the capital _ Yeongyang had 107.8 per 100,000 people, compared with 29.6 for Gangnam.
The non-metropolitan regions had relatively higher fatality rates than metropolitan areas and the same went for small cities and rural areas as people in those regions are unable to receive medical treatment in the “golden hour,” where treatment is most effective
Death caused by cardiac disorders in the capital was 28.3 per 100,000 people, while that in South Gyeongsang Province was 45.3.
To better deal with the issue, the health ministry released a comprehensive measure that includes dividing the nation into 70 groups and designating a lead hospital in charge of each group. The lead hospitals, mainly general hospitals or public ones, will be in charge of improving community medical services by linking and enhancing cooperation among hospitals in the region.
The hospitals will also be responsible for dispatching medical personnel to areas in need and providing education. They will research and plan ways to better reach patients.
For the goal, the government decided to allocate 97.7 billion won ($87 million) next year, an 84 percent increase from this year.
The nation has a poor patient transportation system, as it takes 240 minutes on average nationwide for emergency patients suffering acute myocardial infarction or stroke to be taken to a hospital, according to the ministry. The time is much longer in rural areas, with patients there often missing the golden hour of optimal treatment.
The health ministry plans to create a regional network linking cities and provinces, fire services and regional emergency medical centers, in efforts to reduce the average arrival time by one hour to 180 minutes.
In South Jeolla Province, it takes 42.4 minutes for a pregnant woman to be transported to a hospital for delivery, 13 times longer than Seoul's 3.1 minutes. Also, three out of seven public children's hospitals are concentrated in the capital. Due to such a lack of facilities, the newborn death rate in Daegu was four times higher than in Seoul, with 4.4 deaths for every 1,000 infants in Daegu and 1.1 in Seoul.
The government plans to cut the regional gap for the newborn death rate in half by 2025 by increasing the number of comprehensive treatment centers for high-risk mothers and newborns from the current 16 to 20.
“The comprehensive measures will reduce the medical service gap in the country,” Health Minister Park Neung-hoo said. “We will enhance the role of regional medical centers so people can receive complete medical services even though they are not living in major cities.”