Although previous governments have consistently called for balanced national development, regional imbalances have expanded out of control. It is also the regional imbalance that is considered the biggest problem of Korea's health care system. The medical imbalance between regions is serious. In some areas, there is even a gap in essential medical services. First of all, there is a large regional gap in the size of medical personnel. As the concentration of health and medical personnel such as doctors and nurses intensifies, the health and medical service environment is getting worse in small and medium-sized cities and rural areas in non-metropolitan areas due to a lack of manpower. At last, there are voices of concern about the collapse of the local medical system.
There is a need to strengthen the public health system to resolve this medical imbalance. The importance of public health has also been greatly highlighted due to the recent COVID-19 incident. However, even the public health infrastructure is weak in local cities. According to data submitted by Kang Eun-mi of the National Assembly's Health and Welfare Committee from the Ministry of Health and Welfare, the number of doctors at public health centers in Jeollabuk-do, including Gunsan, Namwon Medical Center and Jinan Medical Center, is far short of the quota.
In order to overcome the crisis of local extinction due to population decline, the "quality of life gap" between regions must be narrowed. In particular, it is necessary to hurry to resolve the medical gap, which is directly related to life. Strengthening the local public health system can be the solution. Special measures should be prepared to improve the local public medical infrastructure, such as expanding public medical institutions and expanding public medical personnel.
First of all, the government should re-promote the establishment of a national public health and medical university. Moon Jae In During the government, the policy to establish a public medical school was promoted with the aim of expanding public medical services and improving conditions in vulnerable areas, but it was blocked by strong opposition from the medical community.
In the era of population cliffs, the provinces are dying. Strengthening the local public health system should be the first step in the policy of balanced development. The narrowing of the medical gap, which is directly related to the lives of the people, is no longer something to delay. With its launch, the Yoon Suk Yeoln government stressed that it will "open an era of local areas that are good to live anywhere" as a major national goal. It is virtually impossible without bridging the severe medical gap between regions. First of all, measures to expand public medical personnel should be prepared, focusing on population-decreasing areas.
Writer: Lucas Kim
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