Kukmin Daily obtained the resource “AIDS Expenses of National Health Insurance Service & Centers for Disease Control & Prevention,” from National Assembly member Ju Gwang-deok (Saenuri Party) on November 30. According to the material, the expenses jumped to 81,051,000,000 won in 2015, from 16,037,000,000 won in 2006. During the first half of this year, 44.2 billion won was spent, and it is estimated that this year’s costs will be more than 90 billion won.
The medical expenses include check-ups, in-patient fees, treatments, and various examinations. The reason the expense increased five-fold is because AIDS patients have increased by 500~800 every year. Currently, there are 12,500 AIDS patients in Korea.
The medical expense per person also increased drastically. It was 6,970,000 won per person in 2006, and escalated to 9,980,000 won in 2015. The Centers for Disease Control & Prevention pointed out in the report that AIDS patients are concentrated among gays.
Lee Su-jin, representative of the School Parents Coalition for Health and Family, commented, “As recognized by the largest domestic gay organization, most AIDS patients are gays. What is the reason for spending 10,000,000 won of public funds on those who are infected by AIDS as the result of their thoughtless sexual behavior?"
Lee urged, “In order to save the next generation from AIDS, the Education Ministry, the Health and Welfare Ministry, and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention must wake up and let the public know the actual truth.”
Despite the fact that government medical expenses for AIDS have increased sharply, the CDCP, in charge of AIDS prevention, responded naively, saying “The AIDS treatment costs about 3.3 billion won.”
AIDS is categorized as a rare and intractable disease; therefore, there is no cost to the patient. The NHIS pays 90% and the central and regional governments pay 5% each. Based on this allocation principle, the CDCP has been referring only to the 5% as the government’s expense. It has never mentioned the serious problem that an enormous budget of more than 80 billion won is being poured into curing AIDS by the NHIS and other sources.
A source at the CDCP said, “As for our budget for AIDS treatment, we’ve always answered that we spend about 3,390,000,000 won annually, which is the 5% due for the government. Ask the NHIS about other costs.”
The CDCP uses nearly 3 million won every year to produce and distribute promotion posters and pamphlets, but the printed materials do not mention the danger of AIDS infection through same-sex sexual activities, which is the major infection route of AIDS. CDCP’s website, too, refers to the danger in an ambiguous way. The CDCP source said, “We will consult experts and plan how to reflect their opinions on our website, about the correlation between AIDS and sexual relations among persons of the same sex.”
Expressing worry, National Assembly member Ju urged, “Globally, AIDS infections are on the decrease, but the increase rate in Korea is the highest among the OECD countries… Most AIDS patients are males in their 20s. And it is a critical problem that young boy patients in their early teens are increasing rapidly. The related government bodies must accurately publish the causes and the risks.”
Reporter Paek Sang-hyun (100sh@kmib.co.kr), with Yeara Ahn-Park (yap@kmib.co.kr)
Original Article in Korean:
[단독] 에이즈 환자 진료비 연 800억원...전액 국민 주머니에서: 감염자의 다수는 남성 동성애자...2006년부터 투입 세금만 5000억 육박
