Seoul, May 25 (IANS) The amount of compensation paid to victims of drug side effects in South Korea declined in 2024 for the first time in six years, government data showed on Sunday.

The government collected 4.75 billion won (US$3.5 million) last year from 760 pharmaceutical companies for the national drug side effects relief fund, according to the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety and the Korea Institute of Drug Safety & Risk Management.

The relief program provides financial support to individuals or bereaved families of those who suffer death, disability or illness caused by adverse drug reactions, reports Yonhap news agency.

Financial assistance includes lump-sum payments for death or disability, medical expenses and funeral costs.

In 2024, compensation was paid out for 161 cases, reaching 1.84 billion won, down 18.3 percent from 2.25 billion won a year earlier, the data showed.

The decline is mainly due to a decrease in compensation for deaths linked to side effects and lack of public awareness of the program.

“As payouts accounted for only 38.7 percent of the funds collected last year, the government should more actively promote the program through hospitals, medical professionals and pharmacies,” an industry official said.

Meanwhile, South Korea will work to triple the size of the animal medicine market to 4 trillion won (US$2.7 billion) by 2035 as part of efforts to foster new growth engines for the economy, the agriculture ministry said last month.

The government also aims to increase the country’s exports of veterinary medicine products fivefold to 1.5 trillion won and create 15 animal pharmaceutical companies with an annual revenue of at least 50 billion won each over the next 10 years, according to the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs.

The ministry said the plan comes amid growing demand for animal pharmaceutical products around the globe, sparked by an increase in pet ownership, livestock product consumption and infectious diseases in animals.

—IANS

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