PHWR Public Health Weekly Report

Vol.14 No.38, September 16, 2021 Article TypeEpidemiology and SurveillanceNoncommunicable Disease StatisticsPolicy Notes

• Epidemiology and Surveillance 2021-09-16

  0 165 82

  The 2021 operating status of the National Brain BioBank of Korea (NBBK)

  Choi Ji-Young, Jo Chulman, Koh Young-Ho

  Public Health Weekly Report 2021; 14(38): 2678-2686

  

  

  Abstract

  Full Text Cite Share

  As the number of dementia patients is rapidly increasing due to the aging of the population, investment in research projects to overcome dementia is increasing. However, since the law restricts the provision of parts of cadavers outside the hospital for brain research, the development of neuroscience using postmortem brain tissue in Korea has been less advanced than that of overseas countries. Accordingly, part of the Act on Dissection and Preservation of Corpses was revised in 2021 due to the demands of the scientific community, and a revised law was implemented on April 8 2021, allowing the provision of “corpse parts from medical schools and hospitals” to outside institutions, which have been approved as corpse donor institutions. As a result, postmortem brain tissues, including tissues from decedents who had neurological disorders such as dementia, can be used for research purposes. Since 2016, the division of brain disease research, the National Institute of Health in Korea (KNIH) started the NBBK, the Dementia Brain Tissue Construction Project to support dementia research in Korea, and currently, there are four hospitals involved. As of July 2021, there were 135 cases of whole brain tissue collection, and 1,141 people consented to donate their brains for research purposes. The NBBK aims to improve the accuracy of dementia diagnosis through the standardization of research for neuropathology-based dementia diagnosis. Furthermore, the NBBK intends to revitalize domestic dementia research and support the early commercialization of technologies for the prevention, diagnosis, and treatment of dementia by providing advanced resources for brain research, such as brain tissues and related clinical information, as well as human resources in Korea.

• Epidemiology and Surveillance 2021-09-16

  0 476 141

  2020 Infectious Disease and Respiratory Infectious Disease Report, the Republic of Korea

  Yu Daeun, Kang Changho, Yoon Seonghee, Cho Kyungsook

  Public Health Weekly Report 2021; 14(38): 2687-2699

  

  

  Abstract

  Full Text Cite Share

  The number of reported cases of infectious disease in 2020 decreased by 13,530 cases (8.5%) compared to 159,496 cases in 2019, and the number of reported cases decreased by 46.6% year-on-year to 85,239 cases excluding emerging infectious disease syndrome (COVID-19). Including the reporting status of tuberculosis and AIDS, which are separately monitored, the number of reported cases of infectious diseases in 2020 was 166,717 cases, down 176,069 cases (9.5%) from 184,323 cases in 2019, and excluding COVID-19, the number of reported cases was 105,990 cases, down 42.5% from the previous year. Major infectious diseases with increased number of reported cases include brucellosis, VRSA, Enterohemorrhagic Escherichia coli and vibrio sepsis, while varicella, measles, pertussis, mumps, scarlet fever and murine typhus decreased year-on-year.
  Among category 2, the number of major respiratory infectious diseases such as tuberculosis, varicella and measles decreased 51.3% (2019, 131,458 cases) year-on-year to 64,067 cases, and the number of cases of foreign inflow infectious diseases (except COVID-19) decreased by 84.6% (2019, 755 cases) year-on-year to 116 cases. This is believed to have affected the occurrence of respiratory infectious diseases and foreign inflow infectious disease as more individuals are complying with personal hygiene rules such as washing hands and wearing masks due to COVID-19.
  Therefore, even when the COVID-19 pandemic ends, we should continue following infectious disease prevention rules, especially personal hygiene rules, to make a society safe from infectious diseases.

• Policy Notes 2021-09-16

  0 204 276

  Health Policy Direction to Prepare for Future Social Environment Changes

  Sumi Chae, Dunsol Go, Hyeyun Kim, Kangjae Yoon, Jihee Choi, Sangwoo Tak, Kim Hyoeun, Kim Yuna, Sujin Kang

  Public Health Weekly Report 2021; 14(38): 2700-2708

  

  

  Abstract

  Full Text Cite Share

  In 2021, the World Health Organization (WHO) proposed a prioritization of tasks for the next 10 years in the field of public health. The WHO recommended that health problems caused by climate change should be solved first. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in the United States and the Public Health Agency (PHA) in the United Kingdom also announced their respective future strategies. Although it is important to keep up with the latest international trends, the public health challenges proposed by the WHO are addressed from a global perspective, and priorities may vary depending on each country's circumstances and capabilities. Therefore, to prepare accordingly, each country needs to analyze future trends from their own perspective. This article examined diseases and health problems that are expected to occur or rapidly increase in the future according to changes in the social environment in South Korea. Furthermore, this article proposed policy directions to preemptively respond to future public health problems.
  Among future social trends, climate crisis was selected as a trend that has a large impact on future human health and disease. Aging and inequality were mentioned as trends in which health policies were relatively unprepared for despite the high predictability of the effects on future human health and disease. In the future, the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA) needs to expand tasks in the field of noncommunicable diseases, operate monitoring for new vulnerable groups, and establish policy goals to play a pivotal role in health information big data.

• Noncommunicable Disease Statistics 2021-09-16

  0 363 54

  Trends of hypercholesterolemia among Korean adults aged 30 years and over, 2007-2019

  Public Health Weekly Report 2021; 14(38): 2709-2710

  

  

  Full Text Cite Share