보건소중심 농어촌 보건의료개선사업(Healthcare improvement activities of public health centers in rural areas)

Korea’s preventive healthcare projects have been active since the establishment of its first public health center in 1946. Successful outcomes of family planning, leprosy control and TB control projects in a relatively short period of time were attributable to the proactive activities of healthcare workers in public health centers. Health centers in rural areas, where infrastructure is vulnerable, operated Sub health-centers and primary health care posts that do not exist in urban health centers. They focused on preventive services and primary care for rural populations who had less access to healthcare services, geographically and economically, than urban residents. With its culture of oriental medicine which regards healthcare as individual responsibility and insufficient government finances, Korea has long developed private medical institutions mainly in large cities; medical facilities in rural areas were very vulnerable, and this has not changed much up to date. Recruitment in public health institutions was difficult, as is the case now.(The rest omitted)