An elderly man has died as doctors’ strike continues in South Korea. The country’s government has started an investigation into the incident. On Tuesday (February 26), the British media BBC reported the news.
It is learned that the ambulance carrying the 80-year-old man tried to enter several hospitals. But due to doctors’ strike, staff and beds were not available, he was sent back from all the hospitals.
Later he was called for admission to the country’s government university hospital. But on the way there, he died of a heart attack in the ambulance.
The South Korean media is widely covering the incident. After that, the government ordered an investigation into the incident on Tuesday. Along with this, the doctors were also urged to join the work by the end of this month. The government has also threatened to revoke their licenses if they do not join the work immediately.
At least 9,000 junior doctors in South Korea are on strike after stopping work for a week to protest against increasing the number of doctors in the health sector. And at least 10,000 interns and resident doctors of hundreds of hospitals across the country have resigned. South Korea has one of the lowest doctor-per-patient ratios among Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) countries. There are 2 for every 1000 people. There are 5 doctors. That is why the government has proposed to increase the number of doctors in the country.
More doctors mean more competition. It will reduce the income of doctors. For this reason, doctors are on strike against the proposal to increase the number of doctors. But the salary of doctors is the highest there. According to OECD data, a specialist in a public hospital there earns an average salary of around $200,000 a year.
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