This 60-minute webinar featured three different presentations around South Korea’s success in asserting dementia as a public health priority, as well as a Q&A session on how these practices and policies can be implemented in other countries.
In 2008, the South Korean government announced a ‘war against dementia’, which effectively paved a way forward in the prioritisation of people living with dementia, as well as their loved ones and carers.
DY Suharya, ADI’s Regional Director for Asia Pacific, opened up the session with an overview for how the idea of the webinar came to be, highlighting the South Korean government’s commitment to people living with dementia and carers.
Following DY’s introduction, Professor Seong Yoon Kim of the Department of Psychiatry, Asan Medical Center, gave a presentation on Korea’s 4th National Dementia Plan, which was introduced at the beginning of 2021. He gave further detail on what the fourth iteration of this plan includes, as well as a roadmap for how there has come to be four different national dementia plans since 2008. Dr Yoon Kim also touched on the impact of COVID-19 and how South Korea has continued to make the welfare and health of people living with dementia a priority.
The webinar also featured a presentation from Professor Jong Bin Bae, an Associate Professor at Seoul National University Bundang Hospital. In his presentation, Prof Bin Bae talked about the latest advances in technology and the development of AI–based dementia diagnosis tools.
