The three-year COVID-19 pandemic was not only a great disruptor, it also highlighted long-standing problems, including health inequity around the world. “I thought this was the final straw on bragging about our health care system. It showed every weakness, including huge health disparities in mortality and impact,” said Dr. Matthew H. Liang, professor of medicine at Harvard Medical School and professor of health policy and management at the Harvard TH Chan School of Public Health, ta

A woman contracted Severe Fever with Thrombocytopenia Syndrome, a tick-borne disease, after coming into contact with a stray cat in Seogipo-si, Jeju, health authorities said on Monday. SFTS is an infectious disease that emerged from China with a mortality rate of up to 17 percent in Korea. The condition has no cure or vaccine as of now. The first local case was reported in 2013, and a total of 608 people have been infected with the disease in the last three years. Common symptoms include fever,

According to a report released by the Ministry of Health and Welfare, 248,000 patients from abroad visited South Korea for medical treatment last year, up 70 percent from 146,000 in 2021. In 2019, just a year before the pandemic, 497,000 foreign patients entered Korea. Recently, the ministry has released a set of strategies for attracting up to 700,000 foreign patients a year to Korea by 2027. In order to meet its goal by 2027, the government will implement four different strategies: improving i

SK bioscience Co., a pharmaceutical affiliate of South Korea's SK Group, said Tuesday its COVID-19 vaccine SKYCovione has won approval from British authorities. The British Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency has approved the Korean vaccine for use as a primary vaccination in those aged 18 and over in the United Kingdom, according to the company. SK bioscience said it is SKYCovione's first permission outside Korea and it has become the eighth COVID-19 vaccine authoriz

Experts discuss latest strategies in winning the war against the chronic autoimmune disease at Lupus 2023

Speaking at Thursday's session on “Global Challenges,” Dr. Bae Sang-cheol of Hanyang University pointed out that social determinants account for more than 50 percent of population health. One’s genetic makeup and biology as well as personal behaviors contribute only around 25 percent. Medical care, meanwhile, accounts for about 20 percent. In his presentation titled "Access to Health Care," Bae noted that in lower socioeconomic status areas, lupus management is

The 43rd Korean College of Rheumatology Annual Scientific Meeting and 17th International Symposium running Wednesday through Saturday at Coex, southern Seoul, features two special sessions aimed at fostering a younger generation of rheumatologists. Dr. Bae Sang-cheol and Dr. Yoo Dae-hyun, both from Hanyang University shared their expertise and experience as leading clinicians and researchers in the field of rheumatology during the Presidential Plenary session on Thursday. The lectures aimed to i

Prioritizing patient needs, experience key to advancing treatment

The 15th International Congress on Systemic Lupus Erythematosus, the 43rd Korean College of Rheumatology Annual Scientific Meeting & 17th International Symposium kicked off Wednesday evening, shedding light on how greater social awareness and new drugs can end the “war” against lupus, a chronic autoimmune disease. This year’s event is held under the theme, “Stairway to the End of the War" to prepare the ground for putting an end to the disease. The first edition

New drugs and greater social awareness would help bring about an end to the "war" against lupus, a chronic autoimmune disease, according to lupus specialists speaking at a press conference Wednesday held at Coex, southern Seoul, ahead of Lupus & KCR 2023. The 15th International Congress on Systemic Lupus Erythematosus and The 43rd Korean College of Rheumatology Annual Scientific Meeting & 17th International Symposium are being held concurrently at Coex from Wednesday through Sa

Internationally renowned lupus expert, Dr. Bae Sang-cheol talks about importance of medical R&D

While not quite as serious as the self-perception, obesity is increasingly becoming a point of concern among Koreans.

Sales of cigarettes in South Korea edged up 1.1 percent in 2022 from a year before, the Finance Ministry said, despite the government’s anti-smoking campaign. South Korean smokers purchased 3.63 billion packs of 20 cigarettes in 2022, up from the 3.59 billion packs tallied a year earlier, according to the Ministry of Economy and Finance. The amount, however, marked a 16.8 percent drop from 2014, a year before the government raised the price of cigarettes by 80 percent in January 2015 from

　The recent deadly crowd crush in Seoul sparked widespread interest among South Koreans in cardiopulmonary resuscitation that can help save lives during cardiac emergencies. 　Videos from Saturday's accident during Halloween festivities in Itaewon, which left 156 dead, showed not only rescue workers but also ordinary civilians desperately giving CPR to victims on the streets. 　Posts by people who performed CPR went viral on the internet, bringing home to people the importance of the emergency

Two-hundred and fifty-six. That's the number of people between age 10 and 20 that took their lives due to mental health problems last year. Of a total 13,205 deaths by suicide in 2021, some 5,258 had histories of mental health treatment, according to police data provided by Rep. Oh Young-hwan of the main opposition Democratic Party. The same data shows that the number of suicides aged 10-29 age groups jumped each year from 2019, with the figure for the latter marking 888 as of 2021. The figures