At the Beginning of "Committee of Health for Nation, KMA"

The WHO defines "Health" as a state of complete physical, mental and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity. Now, it is recognized comprehensively including spiritual area. The trends of diseases have been also changed from infectious and parasitic diseases to life-style related diseases. Prevention in common life is more important than before. The Korean Medical Association has actively taken a part in public health promotion and in other activities to come closer to public. As a part of these efforts, Committee of Health for Nation was organized as a special committee in June and it has nine sub-specialty committees under its umbrella. Sub-specialty committees have been organized by top experts in their respective fields, including allergy/atopy, food safety, cancer, metabolic syndrome, environment, anti-tobacco committee and so forth. They are taking the lead in producing guidelines for both physicians and patients against certain diseases and deliver the most reliable information to public in the event of controversial issues like mass food-poisoning in schools, where people just get confused with overflow of different views. The committee also aims to summit recommendations to the Government in its policy making process for better operation of national health system as a way of delivering voices from the forefront of healthcare.