South Korea is currently grappling with a severe shortage of paediatricians due to the world’s lowest birth rate and, increasingly, a contributing factor to it.
The scarcity of paediatric care providers has led to unfilled positions in hospitals and raised significant concerns for the country’s children’s wellbeing.
Over the past five years leading up to 2022, paediatric clinics and hospitals in the capital have decreased by 12.5%, totalling a meagre 456. In stark contrast, the numbers of psychiatry clinics and anaesthesiology centres have risen by 76.8% and 41.2%, respectively, as reported by the Seoul Institute, a public administration think tank.
Decline in birth rate 1950-2021:
🇰🇷 South Korea: 86%
🇨🇳 China: 81%
🇹🇭 Thailand: 79%
🇯🇵 Japan: 77%
🇮🇷 Iran: 73%
🇧🇷 Brazil: 72%
🇨🇴 Colombia: 70%
🇲🇽 Mexico: 70%
🇵🇱 Poland: 69%
🇹🇷 Turkey: 68%
🇷🇺 Russia: 67%
🇸🇦 Saudi Arabia: 67%
🇲🇾 Malaysia: 66%
🇲🇦 Morocco: 66%
🇺🇦 Ukraine: 66%
🇮🇹…
— World of Statistics (@stats_feed) June 20, 2023This issue is deeply rooted in the country’s exceptionally low birth rate, which dropped to 0.78 in 2022, indicating the average number of babies a woman is expected to have. Coupled with an insurance system that has failed to adapt to the diminishing birth rate, paediatrics has been left under-resourced. This has deterred doctors from pursuing a field they perceive as futureless.
The Ministry of Health and Welfare acknowledges the flaws in the system and is implementing measures to rectify them. However, current data paints a grim picture, with hospitals only able to secure the services of 16.3% of paediatricians they required in the first half of this year, a steep drop from 97.4% in 2013.
Severe Consequences for Child Health and Future Birth Rates
The fallout from this shortage is significant and immediate. Parents are experiencing extended waiting periods for treatment for their ill children, and hospital waiting rooms are overcrowded with children needing attention.
Doctors like Dr Song Dae-jin at Korea University Guro Hospital worry that staff shortages could soon hamper their ability to provide critical emergency care. A tragic case highlighting the gravity of the situation occurred in May when a five-year-old boy with a respiratory infection passed away after failing to find a hospital bed, which ignited a public outcry.
South Korea is facing a shortage of pediatricians, which can be attributed in part to the country's record-low birth rate, doctors say https://t.co/IOlurikX4I pic.twitter.com/XmIcGKawci
— Reuters (@Reuters) July 6, 2023The situation is worsened by the low fees, particularly for paediatrics in the country, as the insurance system hasn’t adapted to the decreased number of child patients. This makes paediatrics a high-risk profession in terms of income prospects.
The shortage of paediatricians and associated difficulties in accessing child healthcare are causing many couples to reconsider their plans for having children, despite the government’s efforts to incentivise childbearing through subsidies.
As South Korea continues to face this challenge, efforts to boost the birth rate and allocate resources to paediatric care are urgently needed. Failure to do so could result in a further decline in the availability of paediatric care, a troubling trend that is already causing many prospective parents to rethink their family plans.
The additional news feed was taken from Reuters.
