``Not Concealed the Inconvenience of the Separation of the Pharmacy and the Clinic``

An ex-minister of the Health and Welfare, Mr. Cha Hung-Bong, said ``I did not present any mendacious report to the President Kim or conceal the side effects or inconvenience of the separation of the pharmacy and the clinic.``

He expressed on May 19 his disagreement to the Board of Audit and Inspection of Korea (BAIK), which claimed that the Minister made a false report to the President Kim. He remarked, ``The inconvenience was well known before the implement of the policy because the government had informed the inconvenience followed by the pharmacy-clinic separation policy to the people.`` He asserted that, although the government had driven the new health policy after the medical and the pharmaceutical circles agreed on the policy, people had to undergo medical upheavals and inconvenience due to the rejection of the medical circle. He also added, ``That problem was already revealed, and the government tried to settle down the problem. The Ministry never made a false report on this problem.``

In relation to the financial crisis of health insurance, Mr. Cha said that the financial problem was not expected at the first stage. ``At first, the government planned to make balance of health insurance account with the separation. However, the medical expenses and the total amount of bill corresponding to the increase of the number of patients have continuously increased.``

In terms of the report that the Board is considering the accusation and reprimand of Mr. Cha and the working groups of the Ministry, the former Minister shortly commented, ``It’s not a good time to talk about it (while the final result of the inspection is not determined yet).``

He also said, ``The separation of pharmacy and clinic is a good system for the health of citizens. However, it takes at least 5- 10 years or even a generation to become effective in full scale. For example, the misuse and overuse of antibiotics has already been decreased dramatically. But the fact has been ignored.``

Mr. Cha currently teaches Social Welfare at Hallym University since he resigned the Minister of Health and Welfare last August.

Song Sang-Keun songmoon@donga.com