my timesThe Korea Times
South Korea

Health

Menstrual cup: could this be alternative to sanitary pads?

 Menstrual cup FemmyCycle / Courtesy of the Ministry of Food and Drug SafetyBy Lee Kyung-min“To use, or not to use?” This is a question playing in the back of the mind of a woman, surnamed Lim, 23, when she thinks of a menstrual cup after the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety early this month approved FemmyCycle to be sold starting next year. The feminine hygiene product developed by U.S.-based Femcap, is currently sold in ten countries, including the U.S., Canada, and Europe. Made of silicon, the bell-shaped is inserted into the body to collect menstrual blood and can be reused for up to an average of five years. But buying a new one to use after about two years is recommended. The ministry’s approval followed the massive scare over disposable sanitary pads after news stories broke that many of them contained toxic materials citing posing a possible threat to women. Many women have since sought alternatives to the disposable pads to avoid wearing the possibly chemical-contaminated ones for a long period of time. “I have been using only sanitary pads since

Dec 18, 2017
Menstrual cup: could this be alternative to sanitary pads?

Gov't seeks to increase school hours to battle low birth rate

By You Soo-sunThe government is considering a plan to increase elementary school hours to tackle the country’s declining birth rate. But education officials are fiercely resisting the move.According to Yonhap News Agency Friday, the presidential committee on the low birth rate and aging society is considering the plan to support dual-income earners with childcare.“In order to solve the low-birth issue, we need to think differently,” a committee member told Yonhap. “We are considering to first address the gap in the provision of care for children enrolled in elementary school.”Whereas most childcare centers and preschools provide care until after 6 p.m., elementary schools mostly end around 2 p.m., leaving children by themselves until parents get off work.This is often cited as a reason for women leaving the workforce or sending their children to private academies while they are at work.According to a Statistics Korea report, about 20 percent of 9.05 million married women between 15 and 54 said they quit their jobs to give birth or to take care of their c

Dec 15, 2017

Church works to legalize 'baby boxes' for abandoned tots

By Chyung Eun-juA "baby box" in JSR Church / Korea Times fileJusarang Community Church (JSR Church) in Gwanak-gu is working toward making “baby boxes” for abandoned infants legal, according to the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency on Tuesday.Baby boxes have been used around the world as a safe alternative to abandoning children in the streets. But baby boxes operate in a legal gray area in Korea. The Special Adoption Act of Aug. 2012 required parents to register newborns if they wanted to give them up. But the JSR Church has allowed parents to give up their babies anonymously through baby boxes since 2009. According to the Child Welfare Act, it is illegal to raise a child that has not been registered. The law was aimed at making adoption more transparent but sparked complaints when the number of undocumented babies increased after the law took effect, as mothers did not want to leave a paper trail to avoid social stigma. Gwanak-gu said it would recognize the facility if the church changed its operations into a baby room instead of a baby box to protect the babies.Lee Jong-

Dec 14, 2017
Church works to legalize 'baby boxes' for abandoned tots

Doctors clash over 'Mooncare'

By Jung Min-hoIn the wake of doctors’ protest against President Moon Jae-in’s scheme to expand national health insurance coverage, Oriental medicine doctors called the action “extremely selfish.”“They are opposed to anything and everything that may hurt their interest,” the Association of Korean Medicine (AKM) said in a statement Tuesday. “Doctors are supposed to value the people’s health more than anything, but they don’t.”Under so-called “Mooncare,” the administration will invest 30.6 trillion won ($27.9 billion) over the next five years to expand national health insurance coverage for more diseases. It aims to reduce individual medical costs by 18 percent.Doctors protested the policy in Seoul, Sunday, because it will leave them with few options to make additional money through services not covered by the insurance, such as MRI scans.The AKM said it supports the policy, saying more patients should be able to receive medical treatment for lower prices.Perhaps a more important reason for the AKM’s support i

Dec 13, 2017
Doctors clash over 'Mooncare'

Public restrooms to run without trash cans from January

Trash cans for used toilet paper will be removed from all public restrooms in Korea from next year / Korea Times fileBy Bahk Eun-jiTrash cans for used toilet paper will be removed from all public restrooms in Korea from next year, the government said Wednesday.According to the Ministry of the Interior and Safety, the amended law on the management of public restrooms will be in effect from January 1.Public restroom users will now be able to flush dissolvable toilet paper under the law. The trash cans have baffled foreigners and caused hygiene issues, such as bad odors and insects.Sanitary bins will be installed for women to dispose of used feminine hygiene products. In a move to protect privacy, signs will placed at restroom entrances when female cleaners are cleaning male restrooms and male cleaners are cleaning female restrooms.In new public restrooms, barriers will be installed beside all urinals, the ministry said.“We expect this installation will be applied to private restrooms such as in restaurants, shops and so on,” the ministry official said.

Dec 13, 2017
Public restrooms to run without trash cans from January

1 dead, 41 sick as South Korea freezes

Forty-one people were taken to hospital after being exposed to the cold weather for long hours. / Graphic by Chyung Eun-juBy Chyung Eun-juA man died from hypothermia in Jeju City on Tuesday as the temperature dropped to -13C.The man, 63, was found unconscious in a field on Dec. 7.According to Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (KCDC), 41 people were suffering from illnesses caused by long exposure to the cold. The KCDC monitored 524 hospitals nationwide from Dec. 1-10.A total of 73.2 percent had hypothermia, which happens when the body loses heat faster than it can produce it. This leads to a dangerously low body temperature of below 35C. Seventeen of the people were aged 65 or older and 14 people were found drunk.“Being exposed to the cold for a long time or drinking too much can lead to hypothermic conditions,” said Lee Sang-won, head of Strategic Planning at the KCDC Emerging Infectious Disease Division.“We ask people especially with high blood pressure, cerebrovascular disease, diabetes and the elderly suffering from chronic diseases to be careful

Dec 12, 2017
1 dead, 41 sick as South Korea freezes

Foreign doctors visit Korea for advanced medical technology

A doctor from Saudi Arabia, left, visiting Korea on a training program for foreign doctors, observes a Korean surgeon perform an operation on a patient at Asan Medical Center in Seoul. / Courtesy of Asan Medical Center 'After medical training, I am very satisfied that I came to Korea'By Lee Kyung-min Dr. Rafat Bahjat Zahid, the deputy director of Multi-Organ Transplant Center (MOTC) at the Prince Sultan Military Medical City (PSMMC) in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, said he would recommend any medical professionals come to Korea.He underwent an 11-month training program at Asan Medical Center (AMC) in southern Seoul to learn laparoscopic surgery, or minimally invasive surgery, from urologist Hong Bum-sik.The urology specialist at the PSMMC, a leading hospital in the Middle East specializing in organ transplant, visited by around 40,000 outpatients, decided to come to Korea to improve his surgical skills and better integrate his medical knowledge into treating patients.“To be honest, I would have never thought of coming to Korea on my own for advanced medical training,” h

Dec 10, 2017
Foreign doctors visit Korea for advanced medical technology

Doctors rally to protest against 'Mooncare'

Doctors rally to protest against "Mooncare" near the Seoul City Hall in central Seoul, Sunday. / YonhapBy Jung Min-hoTens of thousands of doctors rallied in central Seoul on Sunday to protest against President Moon Jae-in’s scheme to expand national health insurance coverage.Under “Mooncare,” the government will invest 30.6 trillion won ($27.9 billion) over the next five years to expand national health insurance coverage for almost all diseases. It aims to reduce individual medical costs by 18 percent.About 30,000 doctors (7,000 according to police) gathered near Seoul City Hall to call on the government to retract the policy, saying it would increase the burden on taxpayers.During the protest, led by the Korean Medical Association, doctors also claimed the government was keeping medical charges too low and that Mooncare would worsen the financial situation of many hospitals, especially small ones.“Since the government adopted the national insurance system, doctors have suffered a lot because of too many regulations,” said Kim Sook-hee, head of the docto

Dec 10, 2017
Doctors rally to protest against 'Mooncare'

Selective child allowance stirs row among dual-income earners

By You Soo-sunThe government has decided it will continue to provide tax benefits to households with children and are in the top ten percent income bracket, a group that has been excluded from the new child benefit plan under the 2018 budget bill.The decision came after policymakers faced surging complaints about the initial plan, under which a monthly allowance of 100,000 won ($91.60) will be given for every child under the age of six with the exception of households in the top 10 percent income bracket.The exception was made as part of a compromise struck by opposing political parties that had been arguing over key contentious issues about the 427.8 trillion won budget bill. The bill was passed Wednesday, four days after its legal deadline.But the parties were met with fierce criticism over the last minute change in the child benefit plan, which was originally intended to go to all households regardless of their income.Online communities also became inundated with complaints.Many argued the decision discriminated against dual-earner households, going against the government’s

Dec 7, 2017

3,000 sign up for 'death with dignity' during trial run

More than 3,000 have signed up for the die with dignity program since hospitals in South Korea started carrying out end-of-life care trials, government data showed Thursday.On Oct. 20, 13 hospitals launched a program to allow terminally ill patients with no possibility of recovery to forgo treatment before the relevant law comes into force next year. The law, which will take effect in February, was passed by the National Assembly in January last year.According to the data by the Ministry of Health and Welfare, a large number of terminally ill patients signed necessary documents saying they would opt to stop receiving medical treatment.During the three-month trial operations, hospitals consulted patients or their family members on details of end-of-life care.The nation's Supreme Court recognized a comatose patient's right to die with dignity in 2009 and ordered a hospital to remove her respirator, noting that continuing treatment just to prolong life without hope of recovery violates an individual's basic dignity. (Yonhap)

Dec 7, 2017
3,000 sign up for 'death with dignity' during trial run
previous page
499500501502503
next page

Most Read in South Korea