“Taking account of the social determinants of health, health in all policies has been emphasized by recommending health impact assessment (HIA), especially in connection with the Healthy City Project. Though not a legal requirement, an HIA of this type aims to encourage municipalities participating in the Healthy City Project to plan healthy public policies and projects and to assess their impact on health. HIAs have been conducted for several public policies, whether directly health-related or not. One example is the HIA of KTX, the high-speed railway system.

“Another type of HIA, which is carried out as a part of environmental impact assessment, is a legal requirement and has been in place since 2010. Among various determinants of health, this type of HIA focuses on physical environmental risk factors such as air pollution, water quality, noise and vibration which may be incurred by development projects like building an industrial complex or thermal power plant, for example. The HIA feeds the results back into the decision-making process.

“From a decade ago, rapid ageing coupled with low fertility was recognized as a potential threat, and it became a driving force of intersectoral collaboration. A committee to address low fertility and the ageing society was organized in September 2005. The committee, chaired by the President, commanded intersectoral collaboration with 12 ministries including the Ministry of Finance and Economy, the Ministry of Education, and the Ministry of Health and Welfare. The committee played the role of control tower to cope with socioeconomic problems incurred by low fertility and rapid ageing. After the Lee administration was inaugurated in 2008, the committee was adjusted, and would be chaired by the Minister of Health and Welfare. Though it was downgraded, the committee still commanded intersectoral collaboration with vice-ministers concerned to discuss policy goals and direction in a low-fertility, ageing society.

“Smoking is one of the major health risk factors. Among various strategies to lower the smoking rate, an increase in cigarette price is always on the policy menu and also needs intersectoral collaboration. The Government increased tobacco tax in 2005, and some of the tobacco tax was earmarked for a health promotion fund. This was possible because other ministries including the Ministry of Strategy and Finance (MOSF) recognized the importance of health promotion for the population. A further significant increase in the cigarette price through taxation was recently made.”

Source: World Health Organization. Regional Office for the Western Pacific. (‎2015)‎. Republic of Korea health system review. Manila: WHO Regional Office for the Western Pacific.

“The National Health Plan 2020 (HP 2020) is the third national health promotion plan launched since the National Health Promotion Law was enacted in 1995. Considering the social determinants of health, HP 2020 set up targets in various areas to enhance the health of the population. In terms of intersectorality, the Ministry of Health and Welfare needs to collaborate with other ministries like the Ministry of Education and the Ministry of Employment and Labor to improve the health of schoolchildren and industrial workers, respectively.

“Apart from enhancing population health, HP 2020 also aimed to reduce inequalities in health. Not only did it establish targets to reduce health inequalities in individual projects such as tobacco control, alcohol control and physical activity, it also aimed to enhance the health of vulnerable groups such as the disabled and ethnic minorities.”

Source: World Health Organization. Regional Office for the Western Pacific. (‎2015)‎. Republic of Korea health system review. Manila: WHO Regional Office for the Western Pacific.

Health Systems Facts is a project of the Real Reporting Foundation. We provide reliable statistics and other data from authoritative sources regarding health systems in the US and several other nations.

Page last updated May 20, 2021 by Doug McVay, Editor.