Korea still has far more cases of tuberculosis than other major countries. According to National Assembly inspection documentation released by Grand National Party (GNP) member Park Jan Wan 87 out of every 100,000 Koreans had cases or recurrences of tuberculosis, more than any other member state in the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD). In Iceland the number is 3 out of 100,000, in Sweden its 4, and in the US it's 5, and its still a big difference compared to the 31 in Japan, 33 in Mexico, and 45 in Portugal. Tuberculosis continues to be a contagious disease that we cannot neglect.
That there are a lot of people with tuberculosis in Korea is nothing new. It ran rampant as a result of the Korean War, and the country's health authorities have fought to eradicate it for decades. Sixty years after Liberation it is still too common and that is a shame. Even if only now, there needs to be an increased sense of alarm about it. That can be seen in how it had continued to decrease until last year, when the figures went up again. There were 34,123 new cases in 2001 and 30,687 in 2003, but then last year the number went up again to 31,503.
Getting rid of the disease will require a change in thinking more than anything else. People often say that it is a poor country's disease but the experts will tell you otherwise. They say that more and more people are becoming affected with it in advanced nations as AIDS spreads around the world; tuberculosis is making a comeback as AIDS weakens people's immune systems. Korea is at particular risk since many people either have it or are carriers.
Health authorities must not allow the slightest bit of negligence in making tuberculosis' danger known and in prevention. They must work harder when it comes to persons with poor housing conditions or nourishment such as the low-income population, the elderly and the young, and the homeless.
The Hankyoreh, 10 October 2005.
[Translations by Seoul Selection (PMS)]
[Editorial] Korea Not Safe From Tuberculosis |
