The number of drug addicted patients in their teens and 20s has increased significantly over the past four years, but the number of doctors treating them has decreased.
According to the ‘Status of Drug Addiction Treatment Patients’메이저사이트 received from the National Health Insurance Corporation by Jeon Hye-sook of the Democratic Party of Korea, a member of the National Assembly Health and Welfare Committee, on the 28th, the number of patients in their 20s who received treatment for drug addiction last year was 1,383, a 54.9% increase from 893 in 2018.
During the same period, the number of patients in their teens increased by 34.6% from 370 to 498, and the number of patients in their 30s increased by 3.5% from 1,030 to 1,066. In the remaining age groups, the number of drug addicted patients gradually decreased, and the total number of patients decreased slightly from 6,984 in 2018 to 6,601 in 2022.
As the number of drug addicted patients has increased rapidly, especially among young people, the demand for treatment is increasing, but as of this year, there are only 24 government-designated treatment and protection institutions for drug addicts, two fewer than in 2018.
The number of mental health doctors working in these institutions decreased by 59 people (34%) from 173 in 2018 to 114 in 2022.
Rep. Jeon Hye-sook said, “Simply focusing on arresting drug addicts in their teens and 20s is giving up on future generations, and it is very important to return them to healthy members of society through treatment.” “We will seek ways to expand the number of specialists and designated hospitals,” he said.
