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New Health Law Gives Seoul Faster Access to Hospital Workforce Data During Crises

New Health Law Gives Seoul Faster Access to Hospital Workforce Data During Crises

SEOUL, Dec. 5 (Korea Bizwire) — South Korea will soon allow health authorities to obtain real-time information on medical staffing at hospitals and clinics during national emergencies, under a revised law passed by the National Assembly this week. The amendment to the Health and Medical Workforce Support Act, approved on December 2 and set to take [...]

Longer Lives, Shifting Trends: Korea’s Life Expectancy Hits New High

Longer Lives, Shifting Trends: Korea’s Life Expectancy Hits New High

SEOUL, Dec. 3 (Korea Bizwire) — South Korea’s newest generation is expected to live longer than any before it. Government data released Wednesday show that babies born in 2024 can expect an average lifespan of 83.7 years — a modest increase from the year prior, but another step in a long arc of rising longevity. [...]

Digital Health Boom Exposes Deep Literacy Gap Among Seniors in Korea

Digital Health Boom Exposes Deep Literacy Gap Among Seniors in Korea

SEOUL, Dec. 3 (Korea Bizwire) — A new study suggests that while health apps and online wellness advice have proliferated in South Korea, a significant share of the population—especially older adults—lacks the ability to properly access, interpret and use digital health information. Researchers at Samsung Medical Center’s Clinical Epidemiology Research Center and the Quality of Life [...]

Navy Conscripts Report Highest Levels of Insomnia and Depression, Military Survey Shows

Navy Conscripts Report Highest Levels of Insomnia and Depression, Military Survey Shows

SEOUL, Dec. 2 (Korea Bizwire) — South Korea’s Navy conscripts report markedly higher levels of insomnia and depression than their counterparts in other branches, according to a Defense Ministry mental-health survey that lawmakers say underscores the urgent need for branch-specific interventions. The survey — conducted jointly by the ministry, the Armed Forces Medical Command and Seoul [...]

Seoul Study Links Fine Dust to Hundreds of Preventable Heart Disease Deaths

Seoul Study Links Fine Dust to Hundreds of Preventable Heart Disease Deaths

SEOUL, Nov. 27 (Korea Bizwire) — Amid persistent air pollution across South Korea, a new study has found that prolonged exposure to fine particulate matter (PM2.5) in Seoul significantly increases deaths from ischemic heart disease — including heart attacks — particularly among older adults. According to research released Thursday by Seoul National University Hospital’s public health [...]

South Korea’s Surprise Baby Bump Signals a Pause in Its Demographic Decline

South Korea’s Surprise Baby Bump Signals a Pause in Its Demographic Decline

SEOUL, Nov. 26 (Korea Bizwire) — South Korea’s birth figures ticked upward again in September, marking the fifteenth straight month of increase—a rare run of positive news for a country long synonymous with demographic freefall. According to government data released Wednesday, 22,369 babies were born in September, an 8.6-percent rise from a year earlier and the [...]

Gov’t Unveils Blueprint for ‘Korean Mayo Clinic’ to Power Medical AI

Gov’t Unveils Blueprint for ‘Korean Mayo Clinic’ to Power Medical AI

SEOUL, Nov. 26 (Korea Bizwire) — South Korea plans to create a national medical data-sharing platform modeled after the Mayo Clinic system in the United States, aiming to overcome long-standing privacy barriers that have slowed the use of artificial intelligence in health care. The Ministry of Science and ICT said Wednesday that it will launch a [...]

Most Koreans Still Believe Antibiotics Treat the Common Cold, Despite Strong Evidence They Don’t

Most Koreans Still Believe Antibiotics Treat the Common Cold, Despite Strong Evidence They Don’t

SEOUL, Nov. 25 (Korea Bizwire) — A majority of South Koreans continue to believe that antibiotics help cure the common cold, even though decades of scientific research show they offer virtually no benefit and can increase harmful side effects, according to a new government survey released this month. The Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA) [...]

Government Eases Barriers to Cancer Clinical Trials, Allowing Early-Stage Patients In

Government Eases Barriers to Cancer Clinical Trials, Allowing Early-Stage Patients In

SEOUL, Nov. 25 (Korea Bizwire) — South Korea is preparing to sharply loosen restrictions on who may enroll in clinical trials for new cancer drugs, a shift that could give patients earlier access to promising therapies and reshape long-standing practices in oncology care. For years, many cancer patients and their families have confronted a painful paradox: [...]

Public Can Now Check National Patient Numbers Through Naver, Thanks to NHIS Tie-Up

Public Can Now Check National Patient Numbers Through Naver, Thanks to NHIS Tie-Up

SEOUL, Nov. 24 (Korea Bizwire) — South Koreans can now access detailed, government-verified statistics about specific diseases directly through Naver, the country’s dominant search engine, under a new public service launched Sunday. The National Health Insurance Service (NHIS) said it partnered with Naver to make health-care utilization data easily available to the public. When users search [...]