This study is to review the historical background of oriental medicine in Korea. The purpose of this study is to estimate the current condition of oriental medicine in Korea by investigating current health care delivery system and to make some suggeti...
This study is to review the historical background of oriental medicine in Korea. The purpose of this study is to estimate the current condition of oriental medicine in Korea by investigating current health care delivery system and to make some suggetions for the future development.
The results of this study are summarized as follows :
1. Oriental medicine in Korea started to develop under King Sejong's medical education policy. It continued to develop for about 300 years and established its original health care delivery system independently of the Chinese medicine.
2. Afterwards, it went through the period of stagnation during the Japanese reign for about 50 years. During this period the health care system in Korea was influenced by Japanese health care system along with the knowledge of western medicine.
3. Oriental medical care system in Korea had not been modernized until the legislation of national health care law in 1951. Since then, oriental medicine has developed to a remarkable degree.
Recently, greater interest has focused on oriental medicine, which has made a great contribution to the improvement of public health in Korea. In order to prepare for opening of the medical market and for establishing the health care delivery system, we have to improve the methods of the oriental medical treatment and the quality of herb drugs and need to plan a new national health care policy in which oriental and western medicine can cooperate with each other.
Fundamental solutions to the tasks presented above can be suggested as follows :
Firstly, Korean society is becoming aged now and the cases of chronic diseases are increasing remarkably, which induces greater demands of health care than before. Therefore we need to establish a health care delivery system model including the application of oriental medicine which was proved to treat the chronic diseases effectively.
Secondly, since Koreans tend to want a specialized medical care, the current health care delivery system should be reconstructed according to the demand of the society. Health care policy should be adapted to establish the primary health care and the emergency care system, Various health educational programs should be prepared concerning adolescence, drug, and sex, and oriental medical professionals should be utilized fully at public health care institutes.
Thirdly, it is necessary to make better application of the resources of oriental medicine in Korea. We have to urge early modernization of oriental medicine through curriculum exchange between oriental and western medicine, the introduction of modern technology and of medical examination system in the field of oriental medicine. Therefore, radical reformation of health care policy should be encouraged.
Fourthly, well-balanced development between oriental and western medicine should be made by changing government policy. Especially all oriental medical academics themselves have to try to modernize orienatal medicine in the era of nationwide health insurance. However, this change can not be done without interdisciplinary cowork and broad understanding among the health related fields like medicine and pharmacy. Government tries to modernize oriental medicine by building National Research Institute for Oriental Medicine and the National Oriental Medical Hospital.
Fortunately, now government is planning a long term project for well-balanced development of oriental and western medicine. Above all increasing cases of chronic diseases caused by aged population in Korea, demand greater concern in the field of oriental medicine.