(image: Korea Bizwire)
SEOUL, Oct. 7 (Korea Bizwire) — As pediatrics and gynecology clinics continue to shut down, certain regions are struggling with the lack of pediatricians and gynecologists, government data showed Thursday.
Rep. Song Seog-jun of the People Power Party referred to a report from the Ministry of Health and Welfare, which showed that 16 regions in South Korea lacked pediatrics and gynecology clinics as of August of this year.
There were also six more regions with no gynecology clinic and just one pediatrics center.
In contrast, there were 64 gynecology and 41 pediatrics clinics in Seoul’s affluent Gangnam District.
Seoul’s Songpa District had 31 gynecology and 43 pediatrics clinics and Bucheon city in Gyeonggi Province had 33 gynecology and 57 pediatrics clinics, showing a large gap between regions.
The shortage in certain regions is largely attributed to the plunging birthrate.
Rep. Song said that between 2017 and 2022, 132 pediatrics clinics and 55 gynecology clinics shut down every year.
Counting the number of newly opened hospitals, the total number of gynecology clinics rose slightly from 2,051 in 2017 to 2,144, while the number of pediatrics clinics dropped from 3,308 to 3,247.
Lina Jang (linajang@koreabizwire.com)
