Minister of Health and Welfare Park Neung-hu expressed an intention to help strengthen international cooperation for the safety of patients, attending a conference held by the World Health Organization.

Minister Park led the Korean delegation to WHO’s “4th Global Ministerial Summit on Patient Safety” in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, over the weekend, the health and welfare ministry said.

Minister of Health and Welfare Park Neung-hu (far left) attended WHO’s 4th Global Ministerial Summit on Patient Safety as the chief of Korean delegation, held in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, from March 2-3. (Credit: The Ministry of Health and Welfare)

At the conference attended by about 40 ministers and vice ministers, the participants shared the results of “Patient Safety 2020” and formed a consensus on the importance of patient safety and the need for international cooperation to this end. Patient Safety 2030, which was adopted in 2016, stressed the need for policymakers to take a systematic approach toward patient safety, based on the analysis of examples related to patient safety conducted by the Imperial College in the U.K.

Member nations of WHO announced the “Jeddah Declaration on Patient Safety 2019” reflecting the outcome of the conference. The declaration contained patient safety promotion in medium- to low-income nations, strengthening of patient rights for patient safety and enhancement of community participation, the establishment of International Classification of Adverse Events (ICAE) by using International Classification of Diseases (ICD), national reports for patient safety and implementation and maintenance of study system.

“In keeping with the WHO and underlying international spirits, the Republic of Korea, too, has recognized the importance of a systematic approach to patient safety and made efforts for increasing patient safety and improving the quality of healthcare on the national level,” Minister Park told a plenary session. “Our government will share patient safety-related system and examples of activity in this conference. Hoping the meet will strengthen international cooperation, we will spare no efforts for enhancing patient safety and improving the quality of medical service.”

On the sidelines, Park met with WHO Secretary-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus and agreed to share Korea’s experiences from coping with the Middle East Respiratory Syndrome and control system of infectious diseases with the international community and strengthen cooperation with the latter. The two also agreed to seek ways of cooperation in the area of supplying medicinal goods and improving their quality as well as expanding access to medical supplies.

Meeting with Saudi’s Minister of Health Tawfig AlRabiah, the Korean minister discussed how to enhance bilateral cooperation in the health and medical areas. According to the health and welfare ministry, the two ministers shared the views on predicting enormous changes and development in healthcare areas by combining artificial intelligence and other 5G technology to medical technology and agreed to cooperate more closely toward that end.

On Monday, Minister Park visited Saudi’s Ministry of Health in Riyadh and exchanged views on pending health issues in the Middle East country. He will also discuss ways of cooperation on social security matters between Korea and Saudi Arabia, with Saudi’s Deputy Minister of Labor and Social Development Tamader Yousef Al-Rammah.

Later in the day, he visited King Abdullah Specialist Children Hospital (KASCH) and met with Bander Abdulmohsen Al Knawy, CEO of six hospitals under the wing of Saudi’s Ministry of National Guard Health Affairs. While there, he checked the establishment and operation of the Korean Hospital Information System (HIS) in the Arabic country, and discussed cooperation in the training of hospital management in Korea by Saudi medical workers.

KASCH is one of the six medical institutions under the Ministry of National Guard Health Affairs where Seoul National University Bundang Hospital is establishing Hospital Information System.

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