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3.2 Noncommunicable disease control
Since May 1996, the National Rehabilitation Center (NRC) has been offering sexual rehabilitation education for patients with spinal cord injuries and has been providing education, consultation, evaluation and research results to related institutes across the country. WHO supported a Seminar on the Medical Approach to the Sexual Rehabilitation of the Disabled, organized by the NRC in September 2003. The seminar provided rehabilitation experts with an opportunity to contribute to the revitalization of sexual rehabilitation activities for the disabled by exchanging information and introducing research on practical rehabilitation methods (42).
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3.2.2 Hospice for terminally ill cancer patients
The hospice and palliative care services of the Republic of Korea started with the establishment of the Calvary Hospice in Gangreung by the Little Company of Mary in 1965. In 1981, Catholic University of Korea introduced hospice and palliative care services, but they were not promoted. Hospice services led by the Government began in 2003. Five organizations were selected through a public contest to implement the Pilot Hospice Project for Terminally Ill Cancer Patients from 2003 to 2004. In September 2003, WHO supported a Workshop on the Operation and Enhancement of the Pilot Hospice Project for Terminally Ill Cancer Patients. At the workshop, participants exchanged information on the status of institutionalized hospice and palliative care of other countries and discussed the current status and development plans of the Republic of Korea’s pilot projects. They also contributed to the development of a hospice and palliative care management system appropriate for home circumstances and the establishment of relevant policies (43).
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Q participants at a Who-supported workshop on hospice and palliative care for terminally ill cancer patients in september 2003.
3.2.3 Tobacco control
According to WHO statistics, the prevalence of smoking any tobacco product among persons aged over 15 years-old in the Republic of Korea was 51.7 % in males and 4.4 % in females in 2012. This figure was higher than the average figure in the WHO Western Pacific Region (48.5% in males and 3.4% in females). The difference in male smoking prevalence is bigger when comparing against the figures for the average prevalence of countries in the high-income group which was 32.8 % in 2012 (44).
The fifth session of FCTC COP held in Seoul in November 2012 provided a turning point to further strengthen legal measures to control tobacco in the Republic of Korea. WHO supported efforts of the Government of the Republic of Korea to reduce the smoking prevalence rate through advocacy to the general public as well as policy makers. The National Health Insurance Service (NHIS) of the Republic of Korea filed a lawsuit in April 2014 against the tobacco companies operating in the Republic of Korea to recoup 50 billion won in insurance payments made to victims of tobacco-related disease and their families.
