On May 30, 2024, ESHPM was visited by a large delegation from (South) Korea as part of a study trip to the Netherlands to learn more about our healthcare system, and our long-term care system in particular. The delegation consisted of 19 people from the Korea Human resource development Institute for health & welfare (KOHI), the Korean Ministry of Health and Welfare, the Health Insurance Research Institute, the National Health Insurance Service, several representatives of local administration offices and a reporter from a major Korean daily newspaper (Donga).
Furthermore, the delegation was accompanied by Dr. Sung-In-Jang from the Yonsei University College of Medicine, who has been Visiting Professor at the department of Health Systems and Insurance (HSI) during the past year.
During this visit we extensively discussed the long-term care system in the Netherlands and the way how we (intend to) tackle the challenges to keep this system sustainable in view of an ageing population. This is also a huge challenge for Korea, as the Korean population is ageing much more rapidly than the Dutch population due to a very low fertility rate (0.7 in Korea vs. 1.6 in the Netherlands). From 2020 to 2050 the share of the Korean population over 65-years old is projected to increase from 16 to 38 percent (!), while in the Netherlands this share will increase from 20 to 26 percent.
Both the visit from the delegation and one-year presence of visiting professor Dr. Sung-In-Jang, who recently has been appointed as director of the Korean Health Insurance Research Institute, provide a fruitful basis for research cooperation in the future.
- Professor