• Journal of the Korean Applied Science and Technology
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• v.25 no.4
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• pp.539-555
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• 2008

It is well understood that developing new drugs is one of the highest value-added businesses in a country; however, the current governments' spending in pharmaceutical research and development(R&D) is minimal in Korea. This paper suggests that different governmental bodies should take in charge of different stages of the R&D process in order to maximize the use of limited government research funding. First, during the initial phase of the drug development, including clinical trials, the Ministry of Education, Science and Technology is the most appropriate governmental organization to support the research. For later procedures such as supporting the industries for exporting developed drugs, legislative approvals, and building infrastructure for future clinical trials should be supported by the Ministry of Knowledge and Economy and the Ministry of Health and Welfare along with the Korea Food and Drug Administration(KFDA). The KFDA, which is the main governmental agency approving newly developed drugs in the market, will need to take a crucial responsibility in the initial phase of the pharmaceutical R&D by guiding the industries with timely and proper information. As a first step, it is recommended to set up and operate a center for supporting new drugs, so that the industries can facilitate the development of marketable drugs which meet customers' needs. Later, in order to expedite the process of exporting and getting approvals of the newly developed drugs from foreign countries, it is necessary to develop new approval system, which includes introduction of the Good Manufacturing Practice (GMP), mandatory validation system, and education program for supporting expertise. Lastly, the KFDA needs to take an active role in developing Korean pharmaceutical industries by communicating with other foreign governments with regards to the globalization of the Korean pharmaceutical industries. For example, as a follow up after the Free Trade Agreement(FTA), active discussion on GLP of Mutual Recognition Agreement(MRA) with the United States of America, should be seriously considered.

• Informatization Policy
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• v.18 no.4
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• pp.85-102
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• 2011

The world is focusing on e-books as the e-book market is growing rapidly as a fused industry at the crossroads of information technology and digital content. Many countries are actively participating in this new market and leveraging on its potential and growth, while Korea's market is still in its preliminary stage. There is a good reason to be concerned over the fact that access to digitalized materials that are the most relevant to the current time are not readily available. Therefore, the strategy in collecting and utilizing content must be newly refurbished. In order to do this, the legal issues and policies related to digital libraries must be considered. The most relevant examples from abroad are Google Book Search and the EU's Europeana project. Then, what are the necessary measures for Korea to materialize its own digital library? Digital libraries can significantly influence social welfare and bring forth economic effects. Social preparation surrounding this subject should continue to increase because digital libraries will change the manner in which people share and use information. Therefore, this paper aims to examine the legal and economic problems and issues related to the establishment of digital libraries as well as to provide policy recommendations.

• Journal of Korean Society of Occupational and Environmental Hygiene
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• v.24 no.3
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• pp.310-320
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• 2014

Backgrounds: Endotoxin, which found in the outer membrane of the gram-negative bacteria cell wall, makes up almost all of the lipopolysaccharide(LPS). When people are exposed to endotoxin,it can result in diverse health effects such as an airway irritation and inflammation, fever, malaise, bronchitis, allergic asthma, toxic pneumonitis, hypersensitivity lung disease. Cases among the elderly, children or pregnant can occur more frequently than a healthy adult if they are repeatedly exposed to the existing endotoxin. Therefore, we investigated and assessed the environmental characteristics associated with the airborne endotoxin concentration level in six hospital lobbies. Method: Endotoxin from indoor air in six hospital lobbies was measured by an area sampling method and analyzed according to American Society for Testing and Materials International(ASTM international) E2144-01. Total suspended particulate(TSP), carbon dioxide($CO_2$), temperature and humidity were also measured by using direct reading measurements or airborne sampling equipment at the same time. Environmental characteristics were appropriately divided into two or three groups for a statistics analysis. One-way analysis variable(one-way ANOVA) was used to examine a difference of the endotoxin concentration, depending on the environmental characteristics. In addition, only variables with p-value(p<0.25) were eventually designed to the best model by using multiple regression analysis. Results: The correlation analysis result indicated that TSP(p=0.003) and $CO_2$(p<0.0001) levels were significantly associated with endotoxin concentration levels. In contrast, temperature(p<0.068) and humidity(p<0.365) were not associated with endotoxin concentration. Levels of endotoxin concentration were statistically different among the environmental characteristics of Service time(p=0.01), Establishment of hospital(p<0.001), Scale of hospital(p=0.01), Day average people using hospital(p=0.03), Cleaning time of lobby(p=0.05), Season(p<0.001), and Cleaning of ventilation system(p<0.001) according to ANOVA. Finally, the best model(Adjusted R-square=72%) that we designed through a multiple regression test included environmental characteristics related to Service time, Area of lobby, Season, Cleaning of ventilation system, and Temperature. Conclusions: According to this study, our result showed a normal level of endotoxin concentration in the hospital lobbies and found environmental management methods to reduce the level of endotoxin concentration to a minimum. Consequently, this study recognized to be requirement for the management of ventilation systems and an indoor temperature in order to reduce the level of endotoxin concentration in the hospital lobbies.

• Land and Housing Review
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• v.7 no.2
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• pp.77-85
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• 2016

The government has switched the purpose of housing policy, from the 'housing supply' to 'housing welfare', with the Housing Laws established in 2015 under evaluation that resident stability and resident standard were improved. But, as 'affordable' housing is gradually decreasing, residential environment has become more poor. Residential environment is a basic element for the child safety, health, and better education. This study explored that the poor resident environment had effect on the child, figured out the situation on housing poverty of domestic child and searched the situation of the residential policy of domestic and foreign child. The main results are as follows. First, the poor resident environment of childhood has a bad effect on the physical health, mental health, academic achievement and cognitive development. Second, 1.29 million children (11.9%) are living in condition of housing poverty below minimum resident standard and are concentrated in certain areas. Third, the policy on housing poverty of domestic child is almost absent and focuses on the elderly, young people. this study discussed political and practical solutions based on these research results. On the basis of these research results, as policy suggestions we proposed housing policy making based on the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, evidence-based housing policy enforcement and, residential policy suggestions under the responsibility of central government, and as practical suggestions community working as the subject and related agency's solidarity from prevention activity of housing poverty and child advocacy point and we discussed way for issue and analyzed related laws, policies, commitments.

• Health Policy and Management
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• v.28 no.3
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• pp.195-196
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• 2018

The Korean Academy of Health Policy and Management (KAHPM) has shown remarkable achievements in the field of health policy and management in Korea for the last 30 years. The KAHPM consists of experts in various fields of health policy and management, and has been the leading academic discussion forum for health policy agendas of interest to the public. Health Policy and Management (HPM), the official journal of the KAHPM, published the first issue of volume 1 in October, 1991 and is publishing the second issue of volume 28 as of 2018. Currently, it is one of Korea' main journals in the field of health policy and management. HPM has published a special issue in commemoration of the 30th anniversary of the KAHPM. The HPM invited authors, including former presidents of the KAHPM and current board members, to write about main issues in health policy and management. Although the HPM tried to set up an invited author on all subjects in the health policy and management field, 19 papers are published, that completed the peer review process by August, 2018. The authors of the special issue of the 30th anniversary of the KAHPM include six former presidents, a senior professor, and 12 board members. The subjects of this issue are reform of the healthcare delivery system, health insurance and medical policy, reform of health system governance, the role of National Health Insurance Service (NHIS), the Korea Institute for Health and Social Affairs (KIHASA) and the National Evidence-based healthcare Collaborating Agency (NECA), ethical aspects of health policy change, regional disparities of healthcare, healthcare accreditation, new healthcare technology evaluation system, globalization of the healthcare industry, the epidemiological investigator system, the quarantine system, safety and disaster, and official development assistance. There are some remaining topics to deal with for the KAHPM: aged society, anti-smoking, non-infectious disease, suicide, healthcare resources, emergency medical care, out-of-pocket money, medical fee payment system, medical aid system, long-term care insurance, industrial accident compensation insurance, community-centered health welfare system, and central government and local government of health. The HPM will continue to publish review articles on the main topics in health policy and management. This is because the KAHPM, which has been the leading academic society of Korea's health policy and management for the last 30 years, feels responsible for continuing its mission for the next 30 years.

• The Korean Journal of Health Service Management
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• v.14 no.1
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• pp.111-122
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• 2020

Objectives: The study aims to compare indirect form of employment with direct form of employment on the variables of occupational danger and physical health. Methods: I studied based on the data of 5th Korean Working Conditions Survey (KWCS) which was performed by Occupational Safety & Health Research Institute of Korea Occupational Safety and Health Agency in 2017. SAS 9.4 was used for statistical analysis of the final data. Results: Based on the verification result, the hazard is higher for direct employment than for dispatch or subcontract in case of exposure to risks in the health and social welfare industry. Based on cross tabulation, significant differences were found in the proportions of harmful and safe tasks in direct employment and those in outsourcing in the physical health industry. It was found that the risk of hazard is 2.18 times higher in outsourcing jobs than in direct employment. Conclusions: It is necessary to consider a dispatch and subcontract partner as a strategic partner and not simply hand over dangerous or hard tasks to them. Active and aggressive cooperation along with support from the employer enterprise built in the contract is necessary for the safety and health of dispatch or subcontract laborers.

• Safety and Health at Work
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• v.4 no.3
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• pp.142-148
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• 2013

Background: To elucidate the relationship between seven occupational dermatoses (ODs) and 20 types of work in Greece. Methods: This was a prevalence epidemiologic study of certain ODs among 4,000 workers employed in 20 types of enterprise, in 104 companies, in 2006-2012, using data from company medical records, questionnaires, occupational medical, and special examinations. The ${\chi}^2$ test was applied to reveal statistically significant relationships between types of enterprises and occurrence of ODs. Results: A high percentage (39.9%) of employees included in the study population suffered from ODs. The highest prevalence rates were noted among hairdressers (of contact dermatitis: 30%), cooks (of contact dermatitis: 29.5%), bitumen workers (of acne: 23.5%), car industry workers (of mechanical injury: 15%), construction workers (of contact urticaria: 29.5%), industrial cleaning workers (of chemical burns: 13%), and farmers (of malignant tumors: 5.5%).We observed several statistical significant correlations between ODs (acute and chronic contact dermatitis, urticaria, mechanical injury, acne, burns, skin cancer) and certain types of enterprises. There was no statistically significant correlation between gender and prevalence of ODs, except for dermatoses caused by mechanical injuries afflicting mainly men [${\chi}^2(1)=13.40$, p < 0.001] and for chronic contact dermatitis [${\chi}^2(1)=5.53$, p=0.019] afflicting mainly women. Conclusion: Prevalence of ODs is high in Greece, contrary to all official reports by the Greek National Institute of Health. There is a need to introduce a nationwide voluntary surveillance system for reporting ODs and to enhance skin protection measures at work.

• The Journal of the Convergence on Culture Technology
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• v.6 no.4
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• pp.391-400
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• 2020

This research examined organizational climate, multicultural practice competence, and job embeddedness of multicultural family service center and studied on the structural relationship among these variables. The study samples are 175 multicultural practitioners at 7 multicultural family service centers located at Seoul and Gyunggi-Do. The study data was analyzed with descriptive analysis, conformatiory factor analysis and structural analysis by SPSS Statistics 20.0 and Amos 21.0. The study results are as follows. First, organizational climate, multicultural practice competence, and job embededness of multicultural family service centers appeared to be posive by the mean value of 3.5 out of 5. Specifically, work reward and incentives(M=3.33) are relatively low, multicultural practice skills(3.27) are lowest among multicultural practice competence sub-factors and fitness is the highest(Mean=3.79) among job embededness sub-factors. Second, multicultural practice competence have a positive effect on job embededness(Ɓ=0.426, C.R.=5.293, p<.001), and has a mediating effect between organizational climate and job embededness. Third, organizational climate has a positive effect on multicultural practice competence(Ɓ=.206, C.R.=2.499, p<.05) and has a positive effect on job embedednes(Ɓ=0.488, C.R.=6.131, p<.001). Based on the study results, it was suggested to improve job embededness of multicultural practitioners by changing organizational climate and improving multicultural practice competence.

• The Journal of the Convergence on Culture Technology
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• v.6 no.4
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• pp.371-377
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• 2020

The purpose of this study is to investigate the effects of satisfaction with green space on life satisfaction and to examine mediating effect of subjective health status in the relationship between satisfaction with green space and life satisfaction of older adults living in cities. For the purpose of the study, older adults aged over 65 years old who participated in 2018 Social Survey conducted by Statistics Korea were analyzed. A total of 4,567 older adults were analyzed using multiple regression analyses and significance of mediating effect was examined using bootstrapping method. Results of the analyses showed that satisfaction with green space had a significant effect on life satisfaction. Since a higher level of satisfaction with green space increased the level of life satisfaction, a direct effect of satisfaction with green space on life satisfaction was revealed. Also satisfaction with green space had a significant effect on subjective health status, so persons with a higher level of satisfaction with green space perceive their subjective health more positively. In regard to mediating effect, subjective health status partially mediated the relationship between satisfaction with green space and life satisfaction of the urban elderly. Results of this study show that green space can be used as an intervention method to improve health and life satisfaction of the urban elderly.

• Safety and Health at Work
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• v.8 no.1
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• pp.99-104
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• 2017

Background: Workers laboring in steel industries in tropical settings with high ambient temperatures are subjected to thermally stressful environments that can create well-known risks of heat-related illnesses and limit workers' productivity. Methods: A cross-sectional study undertaken in a steel industry in a city nicknamed "Steel City" in Southern India assessed thermal stress by wet bulb globe temperature (WBGT) and level of dehydration from urine color and urine specific gravity. A structured questionnaire captured self-reported heat-related health symptoms of workers. Results: Some 90% WBGT measurements were higher than recommended threshold limit values ($27.2-41.7^{\circ}C$) for heavy and moderate workloads and radiational heat from processes were very high in blooming-mill/coke-oven ($67.6^{\circ}C$ globe temperature). Widespread heat-related health concerns were prevalent among workers, including excessive sweating, fatigue, and tiredness reported by 50% workers. Productivity loss was significantly reported high in workers with direct heat exposures compared to those with indirect heat exposures ($x^2=26.1258$, degrees of freedom = 1, p < 0.001). Change in urine color was 7.4 times higher among workers exposed to WBGTs above threshold limit values (TLVs). Conclusion: Preliminary evidence shows that high heat exposures and heavy workload adversely affect the workers' health and reduce their work capacities. Health and productivity risks in developing tropical country work settings can be further aggravated by the predicted temperature rise due to climate change, without appropriate interventions. Apart from industries enhancing welfare facilities and designing control interventions, further physiological studies with a seasonal approach and interventional studies are needed to strengthen evidence for developing comprehensive policies to protect workers employed in high heat industries.