- The participation criteria, previously limited to those eligible for the National Health Examination, have been relaxed to allow anyone to take part.

- MOHW Minister Jeong Eun-kyeong, NAIS Vice Chairman Ha Jung-woo, and 38 others from the health, medicine, and AI sectors donated their bio data.

The Ministry of Health and Welfare (MOHW, Minister: Jeong Eun-kyeong), the Ministry of Science and ICT (MSIT, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister: Bae Kyung-hoon), the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Resources (MOTIR, Minister: Kim Jung-kwan), and the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA, Commissioner: Dr. Lim Seung-kwan) announced that they have expanded eligibility to participate in a government-led national project to build integrated bio big data, which had previously been open only to those eligible for the National Health Examination. As a result, citizens who are not eligible for the National Health Examination but wish to participate in the research can now join the project after undergoing the required tests at a participant recruitment institution.

The project collects health and genetic data donated by citizens and makes it securely available for research. The data accumulated through the project will be used to build Sovereign Health AI, and can also serve as an essential resource for developing innovative new drugs and advanced medical devices and realizing personalized precision medicine.

Recruitment of participants from the general public initially focused on those eligible for the National Health Examination to secure examination data and make participation more convenient. The participation criteria have now been significantly relaxed to allow anyone to take part, regardless of their eligibility for the examination.

MOHW, the lead ministry for the project, held the “Bio Data Donation Event for the National Integrated Bio Big Data Project” at 10 a.m. on Thursday, October 15, at Severance Hospital in Sinchon, in order to raise public awareness of the expanded eligibility to participate and encourage public interest and participation.

The event was organized by BioBigData.Korea (BIKO, Principal Investigator: Dr. Baek Rong-min), a project team under the Korea Health Industry Development Institute (KHIDI, President: Koh Sang-baek), to encourage public participation through the direct involvement of policy officials. Around 40 people, including MOHW Minister Jeong Eun-kyeong, Vice Chairman Ha Jung-woo of the Presidential Council on National Artificial Intelligence Strategy (NAIS), KHIDI President Koh Sang-baek, and Severance Hospital officials, donated bio data after going through procedures including consent to participate, blood sampling, and body measurements.

At the policy roundtable that followed, participants shared the project’s progress and the plan for the first data release in November, and discussed policy directions for making integrated bio big data a foundation for future medical innovation in the age of AI.

MOHW Minister Jeong Eun-kyeong said, “National integrated bio big data is a public asset built through the participation of each and every citizen,” adding, “I sincerely thank everyone who has participated.” She continued, “Starting with the first release in November, we will support the safe and broad use of the data so that the public can benefit from the results of medical innovation,” and added, “I ask that more citizens join us in building the future of medicine together.”

For further information, please contact the Public Relations Division (Phone: +82-44-202-4034, E-mail: msitmedia@korea.kr) of the Ministry of Science and ICT.

Please refer to the attached PDF.