KDCA Launches Prediction Tool for Heat-Related Illness

The heat-related illness occurrence prediction information screen as displayed within the Health Hazard Integrated Information System.

As the first serious heat of the season sets in, the Korean government has made it easier than ever for the public to stay ahead of the dangers of extreme heat — with a new online tool that predicts heat-related illness risk levels across the country.

Korea's Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA) has announced that it is now providing 'Heat-Related Illness Occurrence Prediction Information' through the Health Hazard Integrated Information System (https://health.kdca.go.kr/healthhazard/clmtInfo/predict), as part of efforts to prevent health damage caused by heat waves driven by climate change.

■Record-Breaking Heat and Rising Patient Numbers Drive Urgent Need for Early Warning

Last June, South Korea recorded an average temperature of 22.9°C — 1.5°C above the historical norm and the highest level since records began in 1973. The number of heat-related illness cases reported the same year reached 4,460, a 20.4% increase compared to the previous year. Against this backdrop, the need for prediction-based early warning information — enabling response before heat-related illness occurs, rather than after — has become more pressing than ever.

■Four-Level Risk Forecast for All 17 Regions, Available to Everyone

The Health Hazard Integrated Information System is freely accessible to any member of the public and is designed to be a practical tool for heat wave preparedness. Powered by a big data algorithm that factors in heat-related illness trends and meteorological variables, the system provides heat-related illness occurrence risk forecasts across the nation and all 17 metropolitan cities and provinces, classified into four risk levels, covering today through three days ahead.

The KDCA emphasized that heat-related illness can occur even at lower risk levels such as Level 1, depending on an individual's health condition and activity environment, and urged the public to thoroughly familiarize themselves with heat illness prevention guidelines and actively practice them in daily life.

KDCA Commissioner Lim Seung-kwan stated: "Developing and providing heat-related illness occurrence prediction information is a proactive prevention policy aimed at reducing health damage from heat waves before it happens. Going forward, we will strengthen a health protection system that the public can truly feel the benefit of, through inter-agency cooperation with the Korea Meteorological Administration and others."