SEOUL // The number of Emiratis receiving medical treatment in South Korea has increased dramatically over the past few years, according to the head of hospitals in Seoul.
Those sponsored by the Abu Dhabi Government, mostly by Health Authority Abu Dhabi (Haad) and the Armed Forces, increased from one patient in 2011 to 89 in 2012, 351 in 2013 and 806 last year.
“We have more than 10,000 hospitals in Korea, but the contracted hospitals with Haad in Seoul amount to 12,” said Jung Kee-taig, the president of the Korea Health Industry Development Institute (Khidi). “Although our healthcare relationship with the UAE is quite new, from 2010-2011, we found that we have common interests, such as increasing the level of medical services.”
The number of Emirati patients, including those not sponsored, rose from 158 in 2011 to 342 in 2012 and 1,151 in 2013, with an average treatment cost of about Dh60,000 in 2012.
Mr Jung said every country strives to ensure that its citizens have access to the best medical care possible. To that end, he said, South Korea wanted to help the UAE continue down that path through continued cooperation.
He said the UAE was the Middle East’s gateway to South Korea. “Money shouldn’t be the objective of patient care,” he said. “If we can help the UAE to develop what the Government wants, it will be paid back to the country in another way.”
Mr Jung said the “relation between the Middle East and Korea is still weak, but the UAE is the door to Korea for Middle Eastern countries.”
cmalek@thenational.ae