The Ministry of Health and Welfare (Minister Rim Che-Min) and Korea Health Industry Development Institute (Ko Kyung-Hwa) announced that a 19-year-old woman, Tan Hui-Linn, has been invited to South Korea as part of the government’s Medical Korea project and will receive surgery at the JK Plastic Surgery Center located in southern Seoul.

Tan Hui-Linn’s life that was once full of hope was shattered on October 24, 2009, the date when her horrific incident occurred. Her father, who suffered from mental illness, poured hydrochloric acid on her sleeping mother, leaving her for dead. Tan Hui-Linn, who was sleeping beside her mother, lost one of her eyes and received severe burns across her body, which also left her face unrecognizable.

Although her emotional wounds have healed for the past two years, she still receives enormous stress from her lost face due to the stares she receives from people. On top of running fund-raising campaigns in Malaysia to help Hui-Linn, YB Jeff Ooi, the senator of her village, searched for advanced institutions that could recover her lost face.

As luck would have it, the senator came across the Korean JK Center’s “New Face New Dream” charity project. After several video meetings and reviews of her medical records, this Korean medical center decided to treat Hui-Linn.

Hui-Linn, arrived in Seoul on December 13 and was scheduled to stay until January 2012. Then, Tan Hui-Linn will receive medical treatment surrounding her eyebrows, eyes, chin, and the bottom lip with additional treatment to be proceeded. The airfare and costs for the sojourn will be paid by the funds raised in Malaysia while the JK Center will give the surgeries pro bono.

The Korean Government’s Medical Korea project will finance her nursing fee and tourism cost. Medical Korea, the nation’s medical brand, launched its medical charity program in 2010 to share Korea’s success and know-how in the medical industry and to enhance its advanced medical technology.

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The Ministry of Health and Welfare (Minister Rim Chemin) and the Korea Health Industry Development Institute (President Ko Kyung-hwa) launched a project to improve the medical service system for foreign patients. They have designated 38 tasks, including seven major issues, to minimize inconveniences for foreign medical patients.

In particular, Korea’s seven major tasks for foreign patients are: adopting a compensation system for medical injuries; easing floor-area-ratio regulations for the building and remodeling of lodging facilities in medical institutions; allowing drug dispensing in hospitals; expanding training programs at the Medical Korea Academy and permissions granted to foreign medical professionals to participate in clinical studies; increasing the cultivation of professional medical workforces; assessing foreign patient accommodation in each medical institution; and improving the visa system.

Korea is considering establishing a credit union for hospitals that treat foreign patients and providing partial support for the funds with government subsidies.

Medical Korea is reviewing the plan to ease floor-area-ratio regulations when medical institutions build or remodel lodging facilities in hospitals for foreign medical tourists and provide them with financial support or loans through a tourism promotion fund.

In addition, Korea is seeking to offer one-stop medical services to foreign patients by allowing hospitals to dispense drugs to foreigners so that foreign patients do not have to suffer inconveniences resulting from the separation of drug prescription and dispensing. Korea is also planning to expand training programs for foreign doctors and actively cultivate professional medical workforces, such as medical interpreters.

An official with the Korea Health Industry Development Institute expects that improvements in medical policies for foreign patients will contribute to the establishment of Korean medical infrastructure with world-class services, and allow Medical Korea to lay the foundation for Korea to take a leap forward with global competitiveness in Asia.

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