South Korea is suffering from a shortage of pediatricians, partly a result of the world's lowest birth rate and increasingly a factor behind it, leaving hospitals unable to fill posts and raising risks for children's health, doctors say
The number of paediatric clinics and hospitals in the capital has fallen by 12.5% over the five years to 2022, to just 456. Over the same period, the number of psychiatry clinics increased by 76.8%, while anaesthesiology centres saw a 41.2% rise, according to the Seoul Institute, a public administration think tank.
According to ministry data, hospitals were only able to secure the services of 16.3% of the paediatricians they sought in the first half of this year, down from 97.4% in 2013.One recent morning, the waiting room at a hospital in Seoul's outskirts was packed with dozens of children, many on intravenous drips.
A five-year-old boy with a respiratory infection died in May after failing to find a hospital bed, sparking a public outcry. The health ministry said measures had been introduced this year on fees and insurance compensation to supplement "limitations". It said it had proposed more state-backed centres and requirements for major hospitals to maintain emergency paediatric treatment.
"I'm worried," said Kim Eun-ji, a 34-year-old mother of a baby boy, referring to the prospect of a second child.
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