Gathering Local Governments' Opinions to Implement Health and Welfare Policy Tasks

Ministry of Health and Welfare Urges Vigilance
in Managing Emergency Medical Care and Caregiving Gaps During the Holiday Season

The Ministry of Health and Welfare announced on October 1 that it held a central-local cooperation meeting to explain and discuss the implementation of the new government's policy tasks in the health and welfare sector. The meeting was attended by Lee Seoran, the First Vice Minister of Health and Welfare, as well as directors of health and welfare policy from cities and provinces nationwide.

Lee Seoran, the First Vice Minister of Health and Welfare, held a video conference on August 22 to prepare for the full-scale integration project of medical care, nursing, and caregiving services, listening to opinions from the field. Photo by Yonhap News

The purpose of the meeting was to listen to the opinions of local governments and seek ways to cooperate, ensuring that policy tasks in the health and welfare sector-closely related to the daily lives of citizens, such as income, health, and caregiving-can be implemented smoothly in each region and on the ground.

The new government's health and welfare policy tasks are organized under the vision of "A strong welfare nation with solid foundations, a Korea where everyone is happy." They consist of five major national policy goals and eleven specific tasks: strengthening local, essential, and public healthcare; establishing a system to support lifelong health for all citizens; building a robust social security system; reinforcing national responsibility for caregiving; and innovating health and welfare to prepare for the future.

Vice Minister Lee stated, "The government will continue to listen to the opinions of local governments and those on the ground to ensure that policy tasks are implemented smoothly in each region, thereby laying a solid foundation to safeguard the lives of our people. Starting with this central-local cooperation meeting, we will continue to provide various opportunities to gather diverse opinions in the future."

During the meeting, participants also checked the status of welfare service delivery in the field to ensure that public welfare services would not be interrupted due to the fire at the National Information Resources Service. They discussed measures to secure business continuity so that there would be no disruption in support for vulnerable groups. The Ministry of Health and Welfare announced that it will maintain a 24-hour communication network with related agencies and local governments and will respond immediately should any issues arise.

Vice Minister Lee also requested, "During the Chuseok holiday, I ask that each local government thoroughly prepare and make every effort to ensure that there are no gaps in emergency and urgent medical care for residents, as well as in caregiving for children, the elderly, and people with disabilities in vulnerable groups."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.