Ambassador Heung-Kyeong Park said the medical forum between South Korean hospitals (Asan Medical Centre and Seoul St Mary’s Hospital) and Hamad Medical Corporation aims to discuss further plans for collaboration and exchanges of experts, as well as holding joint education symposiums.
“This medical forum was discussed at the suggestion of Qatar’s Minister of Public Health HE Dr Hanan Mohamed al-Kuwari,” Park noted, adding that an agreement signing on medical co-operation between South Korean hospitals and HMC will also take place at the event.
The envoy expressed confidence that the forum will extend the co-operation areas from public to the private sector, a result of the implementation of a co-operation agreement on healthcare and medical sciences signed in November 2014 during HH the Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani’s visit to South Korea.
Korean doctors who will be participating in the forum include Asan Healthcare System president and CEO Dr Sung-Gyu Lee (liver transplantation), AMC Heart Institute chairman Dr Seung-Jung Park (cardiology), and SMH’s Department of Orthopaedic Surgery chairman Dr Yong Sik Kim (orthopaedics).
For Qatar, the participants will include Qatar Centre for Organ Transplantation director Dr Yousuf al- Maslamani, Surgery Department chairman Dr Abdullah al-Ansari, Cardiothoracic Surgery chairman Dr Abdulaziz al-Khulaifi, Medical Education director Dr Abdullatif al-Khal, Urology and Transplant Surgery professor Dr Riadh Fadhil, and Nephrology/Dialysis, Heart Hospital senior consultant Dr Saad al-Kaabi.
The envoy said an orthopaedic implant manufacturer based in South Korea, Corentec, has been selected to showcase its innovation at the World Innovation Summit for Health 2016.
The company is known for its advanced medical services and surgical techniques such as 3D printing technology in orthopedic implant manufacturing and precise artificial joint operation.
“I believe the South Korea - Qatar medical forum would be a good opportunity to strengthen the co-operation in healthcare and medical services between the two countries,” Park said.
South Korea started in the 1960s its first corneal and kidney transplantation from a living donor, according to the envoy.
He noted that more than 1,200 liver transplants and 1,400 kidney transplants are carried out in South Korea annually (2014 figures).
The liver transplantation success rate of 97.6% is higher than the success rate of any country in the world, including the United States, he claimed.
“After a heart transplant in Korea, the survival rate of cardiac surgery is 99% for short term and the five-year survival rate is 86%, higher than those of any other country in the world,” the envoy added.
