(image: Seoul National University Hospital)
SEOUL, March. 11 (Korea Bizwire) — The number of individuals suffering from chronic renal failure is surging in South Korea.
Chronic renal failure, if severe, may require kidney dialysis or even a kidney transplant.
The National Health Insurance Service conducted a study on health insurance records for the period between 2016 and 2020, which showed that the number of patients suffering from chronic renal failure rose from 191,045 people in 2016 to 259,694 people in 2020, an increase of 35.9 percent.
As of 2020, 75.2 percent of all chronic renal failure patients were over 60 years of age.
These patients spent 2.24 trillion won in 2020 alone for treating chronic renal failure, up by 32.5 percent from 2016.
Individual medical costs, however, dropped from 8.87 million won (US$7,180) in 2016 to 8.64 million won in 2020, down by 2.5 percent.
Patients suffering from chronic renal failure were more likely to suffer from cardiovascular conditions than others.
The Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency conducted a long-term study of 4,000 adults and children suffering from chronic renal illnesses and those who have received kidney transplants since 2011, which showed that they were 11.1 times more likely to suffer from cardiovascular conditions than others.
Ashley Song (ashley@koreabizwire.com)
