A super-aged society in the age of 1 million people with dementia. Is Korea ready?
May 08, 2025
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The debate, which was held in the third meeting room of the National Assembly Hall, was co-hosted and organized by Seo Young-seok, a member of the National Assembly's Health and Welfare Committee, and the Korean Dementia Association.
Professor Lee Chan-nyeong of the Department of Neurology at Korea University Anam Hospital and Choi Ho-jin of the Department of Neurology at Hanyang University's Guri Hospital participated in the discussion. Professor Park Ki-hyung of the Department of Neurology at Gachon University Gil Hospital will lead the panel discussion, and Choi Seung-hyun of the Department of Senior Policy at the Ministry of Health and Welfare, Deputy Director Seo Ji-won of the Central Dementia Center, Kookmin Ilbo medical reporter Min Tae-won, Korea Senior Long-Term Care Institutions Association President Shin Eun-kyung, and CEO of the Care Youth Community 'N Serving.
Choi Sung-hye, chairman of the Korean Dementia Association, who co-hosted the forum, said, `With the recent launch of an innovative new drug to target and treat Alzheimer's disease, active medical intervention in mild cognitive impairment and early stage of dementia has become possible"Early diagnosis and treatment of dementia can contribute to slowing the burden of care that families and society have to bear and reducing socioeconomic costs."
Representative Seo Young-seok (National Assembly Health and Welfare Committee, Democratic Party of Korea), who co-hosted and hosted the debate, pointed out that "Preparing for the rapidly progressing super-aged social crisis ahead of the retirement of 17 million baby boomers is an extremely important task for the sustainability of the community." It is meaningful to deal with the theme of "Dementia," which causes the destruction of the family community beyond individuals a day before Parents' Day. In the future, we will make efforts at the National Assembly to expand the paradigm of dementia policy from 'care' to 'prevention and treatment' to reduce the economic burden on patients, their families, and even our society," he added.
Professor Lee Chan-nyeong, who was in charge of the first presentation, dealt with the theme of 'How to Establish a Community-Centered Dementia Management System by Resolving Dementia Management Blind Spot'. Professor Lee explained, "Patients with mild cognitive impairment are the most effective time of medical intervention before transitioning to dementia. If this period is missed, the prevalence of dementia may increase even more steeply in the future, so the policy should also change to a new paradigm in line with the development of the latest medical technology," he said.
Professor Choi Ho-jin, who announced the following, under the theme of 「Development of a productive K-aging Overcoming Model through Dementia Management Innovation"Dementia Management and Welfare Policy should not be recognized simply as fiscal expenditure, but as an opportunity to resolve imbalances by region and income class and grow the silver healthcare industryIt is time to establish a community-focused advanced care and treatment system based on the established policy infrastructure, and to promote the sustainability and industrialization strategies of technology-based solutions together.
In the panel discussion, academia, civil society organizations, government officials and the media joined hands to discuss ways to improve the efficiency of dementia management policies.
Choi Seung-hyun, director of the Department of Health and Welfare's Department of Senior Citizens' Health, said "This year is the year when we prepare and announce the 5th comprehensive dementia management plan. Through proper evaluation of the fourth plan, we plan to prepare to make better policies and to make up for the shortcomings."
Professor Park Ki-hyung, who headed this debate, emphasized that "this debate served as an important opportunity to look back on dementia policy at the moment when the new government is about to be launched and the 5th Comprehensive Plan for Dementia Management is about to be implemented. Based on what was discussed today, we need to change our thinking that the budget for dementia policy is not a cost burden but a social investment for the future of all of us."
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This article was translated by Naver AI translator.
