3.2 Development of human resources for health

3.2.1 Scholarships for the graduate schools of public health

From 1982 to 1987, WHO provided scholarships to civil servants working in the environment and health sector to study at the Graduate School of Public Health at Seoul National University (SNU GSPH). From 1988 to 2003, this scholarship programme was expanded to other graduate schools of public health at national universities. The number of scholarship recipients fluctuated during this period, starting with three students in 1988 (total budget of 1.4 million won), up to 62 students in 1998 (total budget of 11.7 million won), and back down to eight students in 2003. From 1988 to 2003, a total of 410 public health and environmental health workers received WHO scholarships. In 2004, WHO discontinued its scholarship programme in the Republic of Korea in order to expand its support to other developing countries (23).

3.2.2 Training of community health practitioners

To address the issue of remote areas without doctors, the Government enacted and proclaimed the Act on the Special Measures for Public Health and Medical Services in Agricultural and Fishing Villages in 1980, and with support from WHO, it prepared a training programme for community health practitioners (CHP) who would be assigned to these areas.

As a first step, the Government developed curriculum and held a training workshop for nursing professors. The workshop was led by Lee Kyung-sik, who was in charge of PHC services at the WHO Regional Office for the Western Pacific. In 1982, the Government supported an

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Q The Ministry of health and social affairs with support from Who organized a workshop on phc for community health practitioners in 1991.