The Health Crises in North Korea Hiding Behind Kim Jong Il By Andrew Yu

Whenever someone speaks about North Korea, the only topic discussed is about the possibility of another war. I won’t deny it, I’ve done it as well. Wars are interesting, horrifying, but most of all, the most publicized. Who cares about a little shortage of food or deficiencies in health care systems when WMD’s and World Wars are at stake? Who cares if adults, not even children, are eating pig feed to survive on a day by day basis when they are living in a communist country?

Ask yourself this question: Is Burma’s healthcare better or worse than North Korea’s? Quantitatively, North Korea spends 1.2% more on healthcare than Burma…

The last reliable health assessment occurred in 2004, 7 years ago and nothing drastic has occurred since then to show that health has significantly improved. Instead, with all of the political tension internationally, it’s viable that there has been no improvement at all since international aid is so restricted.

In the assessment, one third of the pregnant women were malnourished. That is the next generation of North Koreans, the ones that will need to help keep the isolated economy running. In Burma, 17% of the population lives below the minimum level of dietary energy consumption. Now ask yourself another question: What percentage of the North Korean population lives beneath that minimal level?

32%.

The leading causes of death in North Korea are prematurity and pneumonia, two causes of death that require nothing other than adequate hospitals and health centers. Again, when compared to Burma,  20% of North Koreans die due to pneumonia whereas only 13% in Burma and 21% die due to premature births and only 14% in Burma.

Yet no one considers how devastated North Korea is health-wise. All anyone wants to hear is if North Korea has shelled South Korea again or that North Korean diplomats have stormed off in midst of conciliatory talks. Let’s just take a second to think about the starving children, the parents eating pig and cow feed and focus on something other than war in a country so ravaged by disaster.

Referances

“Facts on Burma”. Burma Children Medical Fund. 16 February 2011 . <http://www.burmachildren.net/background-thai-burma-border/fast-facts-on-burma&gt;

Korea, Democratic People’s Republic of. Unicef. 16 February 2011. <http://www.unicef.org/infobycountry/korea_37770.html&gt;

Democratic People’s Republic of Korea. WHO. 16 February 2011.  <http://www.who.int/countries/prk/en/&gt;

Myanmar Health Profile. WHO. 16 February 2011. <http://www.who.int/gho/countries/mmr.pdf&gt;