Contact:		Daniel Klim, Director of Communications 609.219.0773 x20 dklim@ispor.org
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THE COST OF ILLNESS IN KOREA SIGNIFICANT SEOUL, KOREA - A recent study found that the cost to treat diseases in Korea was a total of $50.0 billion or 6.6 percent of Korea뭩 gross domestic product in 2001. Researchers at the Korea Institute for Health and Social Affairs estimated the direct and indirect costs of diseases in Korea over $1,600 per person. Direct costs included medical products and services, patient health care transportation and caregivers' cost while indirect costs represented the lost workdays due to illness and lost earnings due to premature death. The direct and indirect costs were an estimated $26.1 billion and $23.9 billion, respectively. Individuals, ages 40-49, accounted for the largest portion of those costs and the study found that the cost for males was 25.6 percent higher than that of females. "This study can be expected to provide valuable information for determining intervention and funding priorities, and planning for health policy," added Young-Ho Jung Ph.D., Head of Health Economics Research Team at Korea Institute for Health and Social Affairs. This study and others were presented at the International Society for Pharmacoeconomics and Outcomes Research (ISPOR) 9th Annual International Meeting held from May 16-19, 2004 at the Crystal Gateway Marriott in Arlington, Virginia. ISPOR is a nonprofit, international organization that strives to translate pharmacoeconomics and outcomes research into practice to ensure that society allocates scarce health care resources wisely, fairly, and efficiently. For more information: www.ispor.org http://www.kihasa.re.kr/ Contact ISPOR @ info@ispor.org ⓒ2004 International Society for Pharmacoeconomics and Outcomes Research. All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions.