South Korea - The Korea Times

Gov't to mandate graphic warnings on heated tobacco product packages

Manufacturers of heated tobacco products will be required to replace warnings on their packages in December following government guidelines. The left photo shows the current warning showing only a needle, which many have criticized as an “unclear and ineffective” written warning, while the one on the right shows a cancer-ridden organ. / YonhapBy Lee Kyung-min Manufacturers of heat-not-burn (HNB) cigarettes, or heated tobacco products, will be required to put graphic warnings about health risks associated with smoking including cancer, similar to warnings all other cigarette manufacturers currently use. Such products will have to use graphic images of cancer-ridden organs, a much strengthened standard than the current image of a needle, which many have criticized as “unclear and ineffective.”The Ministry of Health and Welfare unveiled a set of smoking deterrence measures, Monday, to replace the current graphic warnings with more “disturbing” ones and providing facts, intended to increase their effectiveness in preventing nicotine consumption in

May 14, 2018

Gov't to mandate graphic warnings on heated tobacco product packages

PHOTOS Pictorial smoking warnings to become more graphic from December

South Korea will change the graphic warnings on cigarette packs in December, the health ministry said Monday, in the latest move to curb smoking.In 2016, South Korea required tobacco companies to put the pictorial warnings on the upper part of both sides of cigarette packs to help reduce smoking. The photos are required to cover more than 30 percent of both sides of a packet.The government changes the graphic warnings every 24 months as part of its efforts to maintain awareness of the side effects of smoking, according to the Ministry of Health and Welfare.On Monday, the ministry announced 12 new pictorial warnings that will be placed on cigarette packs, including the electronic tobacco heating device called iQOS, starting on Dec. 23.The graphic images show smokers suffering from fatal ailments, such as lung cancer, oral cancer, laryngeal cancer, heart attack and stroke, while also carrying warnings about serious side effects, such as the dangers of secondhand smoke, sexual dysfunction and premature death, according to the ministry.The new graphic images include tooth discoloration,

May 14, 2018

Pictorial smoking warnings to become more graphic from December [PHOTOS]

Record-low children adopted last year

A record-low number of South Korean children were adopted last year, official data showed Friday, partly due to a revision of the relevant law.According to the data from the Ministry of Health and Welfare, local courts granted permission for 863 children to be adopted both in the country and abroad in 2017, down from 890 a year earlier.The decrease is partly attributable to a rules change that mandates local courts to review and grant adoptions. Previously, adoptions were possible following registration.A total of 465 children were adopted in the country in 2017, down from 545 a year earlier, the data showed. Meanwhile, 398 children were sent abroad last year, up from 334 a year earlier.By the region, 274 children were adopted by families in the United Sates, followed by countries like Sweden, Canada and Norway.The number of adopted children has steadily decreased from 1,880 in 2012, 1,172 in 2014 and 880 in 2016, the findings showed. (Yonhap)

May 11, 2018

47% of elder abuse offenders are children: data

By Kang Aa-youngAbout half of elder abuse offenders were the victims' children, mostly sons, data shows. According to the Ministry of Health and Welfare, Monday, 4,280 cases of elderly abuse were reported in 2016, the latest data available. Emotional abuse accounted for 40.1 percent, physical abuse 31.3 percent and negligence 11.4 percent. Of the offenders, 3,113 were men (67.1 percent) and 1,524 were women (32.9 percent).The victims' sons accounted for 37.3 percent of cases, while daughters took up 10.2 percent. Nearly half, or 47.5 percent, of offenders were in their 40s and 50s. About 88.8 percent of abuse cases took place in the victims' homes.

May 8, 2018

47% of elder abuse offenders are children: data

Chinese doctors visit Korea for advanced robotic surgery

By Lee Kyung-minMohammed Al Duhileb started training at the Catholic University of Korea Seoul St. Mary’s Hospital in September 2016 to study with Professor Chae Byoung-joo of the Department of breast and endocrine surgery.  The graduate of King Faisal University said he is among many Saudi Arabian doctors who are increasingly keen on learning about the advanced medical technologies of Korea. “I came here to learn about the medical advances of minimally invasive surgery. I heard so much about the Korean medical system from many of my senior colleagues who had visited Seoul before I did, which helped me decide to apply for the training here. There is nothing to miss. The skills of the surgeons, especially in the field of minimally invasive and robotic surgery, is far more advanced than that of other countries. I was also impressed how the doctors here care about the emotional and psychological well-being of their patients.” Laparoscopic surgery, or minimally invasive surgery, involves a video camera-tipped cable and several other thin instruments going insi

May 6, 2018

Ajou to get 'doctor helicopter' soon

Emergency medical staff is swiftly escorting a critical patient after unloading him from the doctor helicopter. The Korea Times fileBy Kim Hyun-binAjou University Hospital will be able to get its own emergency helicopter that can transport patients in critical condition. The Ministry of Health and Welfare has decided to dispatch a so-called “doctor helicopter” to the hospital.It said Thursday this would be the country's seventh medical transport helicopter.“It is extremely difficult to rapidly transport seriously injured patients by land in Gyeonggi Province. The roads in the region face constant traffic congestion. This is why the government decided to dispatch the helicopter to Ajou Hospital,” the ministry said in a press statement. This comes after Lee Cook-jong, a trauma specialist at Ajou Hospital, has repeatedly requested such a transport helicopter over the past seven years in order to treat patients in time.Lee is known for treating Seok Hye-gyun, captain of the freighter Samho Jewerly, who was shot during a rescue mission after being held hostage by S

May 4, 2018

Air ambulance transfers 700th patient

Elderly need at least 2.5 million won for post retirement

By Kim Se-jeong Residents in Seoul think a couple needs 2.52 million won per month on average to have a decent lifestyle after they turn 65 years old, according to a recent study.The Seoul Institute, a city-funded research agency, however, showed people were not preparing for retirement. The institute surveyed 1,013 city residents aged between 20 and 60 from Feb. 5 to Feb 22. The younger the respondents were, the more money they thought they would need after 65. Respondents in their 20s answered they would need 2.67 million won per month, while those in their 40s answered 2.59 million, 50s 2.45 million and 60s 2.3 million won. Asked how well they were preparing for their retirement, 72.2 percent answered the preparation was “okay” or “not enough.” Only 13.4 percent answered they were preparing well. Asked what was holding them back from preparing for their elderly life, most answered debt. More than 43 percent answered they needed to cover housing costs or other living expenses. Twenty-two percent answered their spending on children's education was too high to

May 3, 2018

Korea's child traffic death numbers fall sharply in past decade

The number of traffic accident deaths involving children in South Korea has fallen sharply in the past decade, but remains slightly higher than the average rate for members of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), government data showed Thursday.According to the data compiled by Statistics Korea, the country averaged 1.3 deaths in traffic accidents out of every 100,000 children aged 14 or below between 2014 and 2016, a sharp fall from the fatality rate of 3.7 posted between 2004 and 2006.The country's figure was 1.2 in 2015, slightly higher than the average 1.1 deaths among 32 OECD countries that year, according to the data.Turkey topped the list with a rate of 3.8 in 2015, followed by Latvia with 3.7 and the U.S. with 2.3, the latest data showed.The rate for all accidental deaths in South Korea for the age group stood at 3.9 in 2016, down from 8.1 in 2006.Some 72.6 percent of child deaths were caused by traffic accidents, drowning, falls and other accidents in 2016, with deaths involving intent, such as suicides and murders, the cause of the remaining dea

May 3, 2018

Korea's child traffic death numbers fall sharply in past decade

Chinese doctors favor Korea for advanced cancer treatment training, clinical research

By Lee Kyung-min A Harvard Medical School assistant professor of surgery asked for his mother, who was diagnosed with stomach cancer in a hospital in Los Angeles, to undergo treatment at Seoul National University Hospital (SNUH) in 2008. The surgical oncologist at a cancer center with the Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH), the largest teaching hospital of Harvard Medical School and a biomedical research facility located in Boston, asked SNUH Gastric Cancer Center Director Yang Han-kwang if his mother could be treated there. The mother, who is covered under the highest quality medical insurance in the U.S. came to Korea, and drew media coverage primarily because the MGH oncologist was from the top medical school in the U.S., a country where most doctors wish to go for advanced medical technology training. The U.S. surgeon received additional training in gastric cancer surgery at SNUH, which performs around 1,000 such surgeries per year, the highest number of treatments, and has the highest success rate. It has the lowest postoperative mortality rate of 0.6 percent, far less than 10

Apr 29, 2018

Suicide No. 1 cause of death for Korean teens

Suicide was the No. 1 cause of death among teens and young people in South Korea in 2016, with the suicide rate rising over the past decade, a report showed Thursday.According to the report by Statistics Korea, the suicide rate per 100,000 for those aged 9-24 stood at 7.8 in 2016, up from 7.4 in 2003 and 7.2 in 2015. The corresponding figure was 10.3 in 2009.In 2006, traffic accidents topped the list with a rate of 6.4 per 100,000, with suicide coming in second at 6.0, the report showed.The nation's suicide rate has been on the rise since the early 1990s. It peaked in 1998 before declining slightly afterwards. Since 2000, the rate has generally been growing again.Many teens and young people are under the gun to get good grades and do well academically, which has been cited for causing them to feel suicidal, with economic factors contributing to the pressure.The report showed that 37.2 percent of young people said they suffer from chronic stress in 2017, compared to 46.5 percent a decade ago, with pressure from school and work being the main contributors.The report showed that 6.4 per

Apr 26, 2018

Health