The Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA) will launch the Integrated Health Hazard Information System on May 30, which will provide high-quality health hazard information operated by domestic government agencies and international organizations.

Recently, with the increase in non-infectious health hazards such as liquid electronic cigarettes and humidifier sterilizers, public interest and demand for information on various types of hazards have been increasing. However, relevant information is scattered across different government ministries, making it difficult for the public to access.

In response, the KDCA has established a platform that integrates health hazard information by linking 38 systems from 15 domestic ministries and 13 overseas systems, including the World Health Organization (WHO) and the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

The Health Hazard Integrated Information System provides health hazard information categorized by major systems and topics. To ensure effective information dissemination, it offers visualization features (charts/tables/text) based on Open API and real-time URL linking functionality.

In addition, specialized information such as searches by major hazard categories (e.g., climate, poisoning), popular search terms and content, related statistics, and research and educational materials are also provided. The Integrated Health Hazard Information System is accessible on all devices, including PCs, tablets, and mobile devices, and the system will continue to be expanded by identifying additional systems that can be linked.

Meanwhile, the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency is also preparing legal grounds for surveillance and epidemiological investigations for initial response in cases where a large number of patients occur in groups due to non-infectious health hazards, such as liquid electronic cigarettes and humidifier disinfectants, whose causes are not identified in the early stages of onset.

Ji Young-mi, Director of the KDCA, stated, “With the launch of the Integrated Health Hazard Information System, we will ensure that the necessary institutional foundations are established without delay to enable investigations and surveillance not only for infectious diseases but also for unexplained mass outbreaks caused by non-infectious health hazards.”

[News Source: KDCA]