South Korean doctors flee paediatrics as low birth rate bites

South Korea is suffering from a shortage of paediatricians, partly a result of the world’s lowest birth rate and increasingly a factor behind it, leaving hospitals unable to fill posts and raising risks for children’s health

South Korea is suffering from a shortage of paediatricians, partly a result of the world's lowest birth rate and increasingly a factor behind it, leaving hospitals unable to fill posts and raising risks for children's health, doctors say.

The number of paediatric clinics and hospitals in the capital has fallen by 12.5% over the five years to 2022, to just 456. Over the same period, the number of psychiatry clinics increased by 76.8%, while anaesthesiology centres saw a 41.2% rise, according to the Seoul Institute, a public administration think tank.

At the root of the problem is a birth rate that fell to 0.78 in 2022 — that's the average number of babies expected per woman — combined with the failure of the insurance system to adapt to it, leaving paediatrics starved of resources and doctors shunning a field they think has no future, seven paediatricians told Reuters.

The Ministry of Health and Welfare acknowledged "limitations" in the system and said measures were being implemented to address them.

According to ministry data, hospitals were only able to secure the services of 16.3% of the paediatricians they sought in the first half of this year, down from 97.4% in 2013.

For parents, the shortage can mean long waits for treatment for sick children.

One recent morning, the waiting room at a hospital in Seoul's outskirts was packed with dozens of children, many on intravenous drips.