Free Medical Services to Overseas Koreans

On April 1996, the tenth year since Chernobyl nuclear accident, SMC started the charity work by providing free medical services to children of the Korean residents in Ukraine who were suffering from the damages of the accident. Since then, SMC has been practicing the benevolent art of medicine each year to let the overseas Koreans know that they have their mother country behind them to count on.

From June 9 to 17, 2000, ‘One Family Medical Service Team’, the voluntary medical service group of SMC, performed voluntary medical service activities for Korean and local residents in Tashkent and Samarkand, respectively the capital and the second largest city of Uzbekistan located in the Central Asia. The members consisting of doctors, nurses and medical engineers, etc. went through the forced march of treating 300 patients each day and the total of approximately 1,500 patients over the period. In addition, from May 31 to June 8, 2002, ‘One Family Medical Service Team’ treated over 700 patients in Namangan, the back region in the eastern part of Uzbekistan. Through recommendation by the local Korean doctors with whom the team worked during the period of the service activities, the medical service team invited 2 children suffering from congenital heart diseases over to Korea to receive treatments.

From June 4 to 10, 2003, the team provided free medical service as well as health and hygiene-related education to the local residents in Kyrgyzstan in the Central Asia. The team continued on the voluntary service activities from September 23 to 29, 2004 in the regions of Primorsky Kray, Russia.
In the mean time, SMC is taking the initiative in helping out the Korean descents living in China as their visits to Korea are becoming frequent.

The first encounter with Yi Ryeong from Yanji, Jilin was through KBS Social Educational Broadcasting. Yi Ryeong, who was suffering from syringomyelia, received the first treatment on June 1995 at SMC. On September 1998, she received the second treatment of surgically removing the spinal cord tumor. With this, Yi Ryeong was given a new life.
On July 1998, SMC administered artificial crystalline implantation and corneal transplantation on Kim Hyeon-nam living in Qiqihar, Heilongjiang in China. In addition, SMC provided free medical services for children of the Korean Chinese suffering from heart diseases. The free medical service program first began upon request by Korea I Love Children Foundation in 1997. In the first year, SMC invited 3 Korean Chinese children suffering from patent ductus arteriosus and pulmonary hypertension and administered heart surgeries on them.

On August 2000, SMC sent the heart disease treatment team to Yanji, China and provided the service of free surgical operations. As such, SMC has so far been giving new life to over 400 Korean Chinese children. On march 2001, SMC gave charity service of medical treatment to Yuhan Maya, the two-year old son of a Filipino worker, Elmer Maya working at a steel plate factory in Korea. As such, SMC has been practicing love that transcends borders.

Vietnam, Egypt

SMC is sharing the healing art, such as surgical operations for children suffering from heart diseases and living donor liver transplantations, etc., by forming cooperative relationships with hospitals in Vietnam and Egypt for medical and technological supports. Through this effort, SMC is uplifting the national reputation at the same time as publicizing the advanced medical technologies of Korea.

On October 3, 2003, SMC concluded an agreement for a program to support children suffering from heart diseases with Vietnam National Hospital of Pediatrics located in Hanoi, Vietnam. From 2004 to 2007, SMC provided the supports of sending medical staffs four times a year, inviting and treating children subject to surgical operations, mid to long-term training of Vietnamese medical staff in Korea and offering of ambulances as well as medical instruments and supplies, etc.

This program aims to enable the Vietnamese medical staff to independently administer surgical operations on congenital heart diseases through long-term support from SMC rather than the short-term solution of heart operations by the medical staff of Korea. Since November 2003, SMC is actively undergoing the exchange activities, such as inviting the Vietnamese medical staff and providing them with the training programs for surgical operations on heart diseases.

In addition, SMC concluded an agreement with the Dar Al Fouad Hospital of Egypt on September 20, 2003. SMC is promoting diverse ways of cooperation, such as people-to-people exchange as well as sharing the medical technologies for organ transplantation of the international standard. From April 22 to 24, 2003, SMC successfully administered 3 cases of living donor liver transplantations on the local patients suffering from hepatocirrhosis at the Dar Al Fouad Hospital. Also, SMC underwent tele-medicine conferences once every week for continuous post-surgical care on the transplant patients and for management of patients in the waiting list for organ transplantations. While administering living donor liver transplantations in Egypt once in every two months since June, SMC decided to conclude an agreement with this hospital in order to implement the closer and more effective relationship as cooperating partners.