“Bio-vaccine fund will be created within the year”

...Govn't will also accumulate big data for precision medicine

MFDS reports the new government’s operation plan to the president on the afternoon of the 19th

Public policy fee system will be introduced for less favored areas of treatment such as craniotomy for cerebral aneurysms etc.

President Yoon Suk-Yeol reconfirmed his new government’s plan to raise and create a K-Bio·Vaccine Fund that focuses investments on Phase III trials within the year.

 

The government will induce investments with pan-ministerial support and also accumulate data on 1 million people to develop next-generation treatments such as advanced biopharmaceuticals and precision medicine.

 

Also, a public policy-based fee system will be implemented to reinforce essential healthcare such as less-favored areas such as craniotomy for cerebral aneurysms and areas with reduced demand, such as pediatrics and childbirth.

 

On the 19th, the Ministry of Health and Welfare reported the new government’s operation plan that contained the abovementioned plans to the president.

 

◆Making the leap to become a global biohealth hub=The MOHW announced plans for Korea to make the leap and become a global biohealth hub.

 

It plans to strengthen pan-ministerial support to attract investment from companies in Korea and abroad and raise and create a K-Bio·Vaccine Fund that focuses on Phase III trial investments within the year to attract private investments.

 

Also, the ministry will provide regulatory relief by reorganizing the innovative medical device designation system within and announcing step-by-step implementation plans to innovate the biohealth regulations within the year.

 

In addition, a ‘National Integrated Bio Big Data’ system will be established to develop next-generation treatments such as advanced biopharmaceuticals and precision medicine.

 

With the goal of accumulating data on 1 million people, the government will apply for a preliminary feasibility study within the year.

 

Also, a ‘Health Information Expressway’ will be created to safely manage and relay personal health and medical data for customized use by HCPs.

 

R&D investments to establish health security and resolve national challenges will also be expanded, with the goal of reaching ₩1 trillion in 2025.

 

In particular, the investment will be concentrated on securing core technologies such as mRNA (messenger ribonucleic acid) platforms, antiviral drugs, and universal vaccines.

 

◆Advancing capabilities for infectious disease response= The government’s 3rd-year COVID-19 countermeasures were also presented in the report.

 

The plan is to promote precise, targeted quarantine in infection-vulnerable areas while maintaining daily life.

 

Therefore, targeted distancing measures such as restricting visits and prohibiting outdoor visits or stays will be implemented in vulnerable facilities that have a high frequency of confirmed COVID-19 cases.

 

In order to prevent group infection and progression to severe disease in such infection-vulnerable facilities, preemptive tests for workers will be expanded, and confirmed patients will be promptly treated to prevent further infection or disease progression.

 

Also, access to testing will be reinforced by extending weekend and nighttime operation hours of screening centers (602 centers) and temporary screening centers (6 centers).

 

Also, progression to severe disease in high-risk groups such as the elderly will be prevented by utilizing one-stop medical institutions (currently 12 locations) that can test, treat, and prescribe COVID-19 treatments within one day.

 

As of 00:00, the proportion of COVID-19 patients aged 60 years or older among patients with severe·critical disease and deaths were 86.8% (427 patients) and 91.6% (76 patients), respectively.

 

Also, outpatient prescriptions of COVID-19 treatments will be made possible at the patient's regular hospitals with the allowance of outpatient prescriptions in such hospitals and an increased number of pharmacies that handle COVID-19 treatments.

 

A system for intensive treatment of severely ill patients and rapid response to emergency patients will also be prepared.

 

Communication will also be strengthened.

 

Ki-Seok Jeong, Chairman of the National Infectious Disease Crisis Response Advisory Committee, will be appointed Director-General of Special Response Central Disaster and Safety Countermeasure Headquarters, and will be running and explaining COVID-19-related news to the public in easy terms through the YouTube channel, ‘COVID-19 TV.’ Also, communication with the medical community will be strengthened by operating a city-regional medical consultative body with doctors’ associations in cities and provinces.

 

◆Expanding essential healthcare through introduction of public policy-based fee system, etc.

 

=Also, the government will work to expand essential healthcare through the introduction of a public policy-based fee system and reform of the national health insurance expenditures to prevent the recurrence of tragedies such as the recent death of the nurse at Asan Medical Center.

 

Essential healthcare refers to services that pose a serious threat to the lives of the people if not urgently provided, or are inadequately provide due to reduced medical demand.

 

A public policy-based fee system will be implemented to strengthen the grounds for essential healthcare, in less-favored areas such as craniotomy for cerebral aneurysms and areas with reduced demand such as pediatrics and childbirth.

 

Compensation for high-risk high-difficulty operations and emergency operations that are less frequent but high-risk such as aortic dissection, heart, and brain surgery that are shunned will be strengthened by increasing the policy-based premium fee.

 

Also, support for the recovery of infrastructure on childbirth will be reinforced through measures such as raising fees and support for vulnerable regions.

 

Also, compensation will be reinforced and infrastructure expanded after evaluating essential healthcare to identify areas in deficit such as children's hospitals.

 

The plan also contained measures to increase the listing of essential healthcare and high-priced drugs through a thorough re-evaluation of existing reimbursed items that cause excessive use such as ultrasound and MRI, the improvement of standards for foreign dependents, and preventing theft of health insurance qualifications.