Government to check on infants without medical records

Prime Minister Han Duck-soo speaks during a government meeting on child policies at the Government Complex in Seoul, Thursday. Yonhap

By Jun Ji-hye

The government will conduct a full investigation into the issue of infants under the age of two who did not get essential vaccine shots or do not have recent medical records, in an effort to identify children at risk of abuse and protect them in advance.

The government will introduce a system that requires medical institutes to notify municipalities of the birth of a child to prevent any attempts to evade birth registration. The government also aims at establishing a law that governs the rights of children and the state's responsibility toward them.

These are part of the new child policies unveiled by the government, Thursday.

“The latest plans focus on supporting the growth of children and enhancing the welfare system for children from vulnerable groups,” Prime Minister Han Duck-soo said during a government meeting.

Han said the government will look into the cases of some 11,000 children under the age of two, who have not received the necessary vaccinations provided under the National Immunization Program for Children or whose medical records are not up-to-date.

The National Immunization Program for Children provides 17 vaccinations for infectious diseases for free for children under 12 years of age. The program begins with the BCG vaccination against tuberculosis for babies within four weeks of being born.

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The prime minister said that the inspection will be carried out for three months beginning next Monday.

All this comes against the backdrop of the recent death of a 20-month-old boy in Incheon, which raised the alarm regarding child abuse in Korea. The boy died in February after his mother, in her 20s, went out and left him alone at home for three days.

The police arrested the mother and later revealed that the boy did not receive any essential vaccine shots since he was four months old. He did not have recent medical records, either.

Officials said the ratio of children under the age of two who have died due to child abuse is high, but it is difficult to protect them in advance as they are too young to express themselves and alert others to their plight.

The government will also cover all costs for the hospitalization of children under two years of age, and support medical expenses for premature babies or those suffering congenital diseases until they become two years old.

The government will push to introduce a system that requires medical institutes to notify municipalities of child births and a system offering birth registration numbers to all undocumented children born in Korea.

The government will work to expand financial aid for children coming from vulnerable groups and support their reunion with their parents if they live in child shelters.

The government will improve the adoption system as well.

According to officials, adoption agencies have mainly led the adoption process so far. Under the improved system, the central and local governments will assume the responsibility, and push for more domestic adoptions rather than sending children overseas.

The government will push to ratify the Hague Convention on Protection of Children and Co-operation in Respect of Intercountry Adoption, a multilateral treaty that provides safeguards for children and families involved in adoptions and works to prevent the abduction, sale or trafficking of children.