South Korea to provide telemedicine service to deep-sea vessel crews

Seoul, March 30
South Korea will push forward the project to provide telemedicine services for 4,500 crew members of deep-sea vessels using satellite telecommunications, the oceans ministry said on Sunday.

There are many cases of belated treatment for the crews of deep-sea vessels during emergencies and for many diseases, according to the Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries, reports Yonhap news agency.

To help resolve this, the government partnered with Pusan National University Hospital's maritime medical research centre in 2015, providing 109,312 cases of telemedicine services for the crew of deep-sea vessels over the past 10 years, the ministry said.

Last year alone, the government provided 24,026 cases of telemedicine services for 180 deep-sea vessels.

Through the project, the government will instruct deep-sea vessel crews on how to respond to emergency cases and offer consultations for those who have chronic diseases like diabetes and high blood pressure, the ministry said.

Last year, South Korea held a virtual meeting with the United States to enhance mutual understanding of their respective telemedicine industries and explore areas of cooperation.

The session with some 30 companies from both countries followed up on the South Korea-U.S. Supply Chain and Commercial Dialogue (SCCD) held in March, according to the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy.

The SCCD is a regular ministerial forum designed to discuss the promotion of resilient supply chains for key products, including semiconductors, batteries and critical minerals.

The event came as the demand for mobile-based telemedicine services is anticipated to grow down the road amid the rapidly aging population.

"South Korea has high potential in the digital health sector on the back of its vast amount of clinical data and advanced information technology," an official from the industry ministry said.

"The ministry is seeking to support the commercialisation of related products and services while fostering experts to establish the industrial ecosystem for the digital health sector," the official added.