3.5 Improvement of the national health statistics system

environment and society. Regarding the rapid growth, in the 1970s and 1980s, the major cities and the newly established industrial complexes, including Ulsan and Pohang, suffered from serious environmental problems, especially air and water pollution.

For example, in 1980, the annual arithmetic mean concentration of SO2 [sulfur dioxide] in Seoul was 0.094 ppm, which was almost double the national standard, and in April 1981, the arithmetic mean of the total suspended particulates in Gwanghwamun was 389 μg/m3 with a maximum of 661 μg/m3 for 24 hours. At that time, there was no real monitoring service with the ability to regularly check the fine particulates with a diameter of less than 2.5 microns, which are particularly harmful to human health. But some available data show that the size of about 50% of the particulates was less than 1 micron, and that of 90% was less than 10 microns.

In those days, there was no observance of the air quality standard for lead in the Republic of Korea, and some data observed in Guro-dong and Gwanghwamun in 1982 showed that the arithmetic mean value of the high volume sample collected for 24 hours in each area was 6.78 μg/m3 and 1.23 μg/m3 of concentration, respectively. Compared to the United States, where the air quality standard for lead was 1.5 μg/m3 for three months, air pollution in Guro-dong turned out to be very serious.

Kreisel stressed that air pollution in Seoul in the 1970s was “so serious to the point that you were afraid to go outside”. In the 1980s and 1990s, the Republic of Korea and WHO collaborated on research in the field of health and the environment. WHO and UNDP provided technical and financial assistance in establishing a comprehensive training programme in environmental pollution control at the National Environmental Protection Institute in the Republic of Korea.

h erald © Korea

Q hiroshi nakajima, Who regional director for the Western pacific, meets park seung-kyu, director of the national environmental agency, in March 1980.

3.5 improvement of the national health statistics system

The introduction of the national health insurance system highlighted the importance of the national health statistics system. The health insurance system encouraged the public to use more medical services, and the subsequent increase in the health expenditure laid a burden on the Government. Accordingly, the Government of the Republic of Korea requested WHO to continue providing support for statistical consultations and health-care management. With financial support from WHO, the Government of the Republic of Korea held large-scale workshops on the national health statistics system in 1981 and 1982, and also implemented an extended demonstration project for the development of the system in 1986 and 1987 (33).