WHO praises North Korea’s health care system, but it is just propaganda
The official was speaking about a statement Ms Chan made during an official visit to the North Korean capital. After spending two days and half in Pyongyang, the WHO director general said that North Korean health system was the envy of many developing countries because of the abundance of medical staff at its disposal, one "household doctor", she said, looking after every 130 families, a record for Asia. She did not say however that North Korea does not allow anyone to leave the country.
The source told AsiaNews, “We are talking about people who are doctors on paper. That is worthless because in North Korea, diplomas are given away. Many of the children of the elite choose to study medicine because it is easy. The proof of that is that when the situation in the country gets really bad, with major outbreaks of tuberculosis and other infectious diseases for example, the regime calls in doctors from Caritas (South) Korea to bring real assistance to the population.”
For example, in 2008, a devastating earthquake hit the northern part of North Korea. Pyongyang urged Seoul to send its doctors to the area. Likewise, in 2005 and for the first time since the Communists took over, the North Korean government allowed a Catholic delegation to visit the country’s children’s TB hospitals and talk with doctors and patients.
Fr Gerald Hammond was a member of that delegation. “From 1 to 12 May 2005, we were in North Korea to bring medical supplies. We visited Pyongyang, Nampo and the southeastern province of Pyengan. I am certain that getting permission to make this trip was a divine gift,” he said.
“The Health Ministry gave us permission to visit 17 people’s TB hospitals for children. At present, eight get aid from the Catholic Church,” the clergyman, superior of the Maryknoll Missionaries in Korea, said.
In fact, despite religious repression by the Communist regime, these hospitals “get and use our drugs, which are in boxes that bear the symbols of the Catholic faith and the names of the institutions that sent them, in Korean and English”.
For ordinary North Koreans, “people’s hospitals are the only health care resource available. They have adequate staff and brick and mortar, but lack equipment and drugs. Our work is to bring them up to date with the latest information, as well as guarantee patients’ survival.”
Moreover, these “hospitals cover only a fraction of the national territory. The rest is covered by barefoot doctors, who are robbed of their drugs, which is worth a lot on the black market.”
Despite the alleged excellence in medical care, the regime authorised the opening of the Rason International Catholic Hospital in 2006. The health care facility is located in Hamgyeongbuk-do province, in the eastern part of the country. The Catholic International Cooperation Medical Service, created by the Benedictine Congregation of Saint Ottilio and the Catholic Church of Korea, built it.
The three-storey building covers a 25,000-m2 area with much needed diagnostics and therapeutic equipment. It has 100 beds and an 80-strong medical and paramedical staff.
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12/02/2016 15:14
