Substitute while the actions of the article are loading
SEOUL – The coronavirus pandemic has finally spread to North Korea, a poor country with a fragile health care system and no vaccine program.
If the figures are correct, the country seems to be experiencing the onset of the disaster the rest of the world is facing in early 2020: a national health crisis that will quickly hit the already forced health care system with the most vulnerable people at greatest risk of death. North Korea is one of only two countries in the world without coronavirus vaccines after twice refusing shipments from Covax, a UN-backed initiative that provides doses to countries in need.
Here’s what you need to know about covid and healthcare in North Korea.
The spread of covid in North Korea
On May 12, North Korea reported its first outbreak of covid from an unspecified number of BA.2 omicron subvariant cases. Until then, North Korea has said there are no positive cases, although many experts have questioned the veracity of the claim.
Since then, the disease appears to have spread rapidly, rising to more than 1.7 million estimated cases, according to state media on Wednesday. North Korea calls the cases “fever”, an obvious euphemism for covid-19, as it probably lacks the capacity to make a correct diagnosis due to a lack of test kits.
William Hanaj, co-director of the Harvard TH Chan School of Public Health’s Center for Infectious Diseases In 2020, the death rate was approximately 0.5 percent, which would mean 125,000 people in North Korea.
“This notion that the omicron is soft is wrong; “What we see is that people who are vaccinated have a much reduced risk of serious illness and death,” said Maria van Kerkhove, leader of the World Health Organization on COVID-19, at a briefing on Tuesday. “This story is really deadly because people don’t think they’re at risk.”
The death toll so far in North Korea is far below the rough estimate. At least 61 patients with “fever” died as of Wednesday, including related problems such as medical negligence and complications from drug use.
North Korea has a population of about 25 million and is relatively young, with an average age of about 35, so you are less likely to experience the level of serious illness and death seen in older countries.
However, global health experts are worried about the emergence of a new option from North Korea. “Where there is uncontrolled transmission, there is always a higher risk of new options,” WHO Emergency Director Michael Ryan said at a briefing on Tuesday when asked about North Korea.
North Korea has recognized a coronavirus epidemic for the first time
Malnutrition and poor sanitation
Outside the privileged capital of Pyongyang, residents suffer from chronic malnutrition, and about 40 percent of its population is considered malnourished, according to the United Nations and UNICEF.
In 2020, the UN estimated that about a third of North Korea’s population has “limited access to adequate health services.” Although access to water, sanitation and sanitation varies in rural and urban areas, there is generally poor access to such services everywhere, and in 2020 the UN estimated that one third of North Koreans also do not have access to clean drinking water.
Challenges in the provision of health care
North Korea claims to have free health services for all citizens, but in reality this only applies to the rich and elite in Pyongyang due to the country’s chronic lack of medical supplies and infrastructure.
Coronavirus cases, deaths in North Korea rise as Kim blames officials
Apart from some hospitals in Pyongyang, most hospitals in North Korea are poorly equipped and do not have a reliable supply of electricity and heating. As a result, many North Koreans turn to informal health care practitioners who work illegally in their homes or to drug dealers on the black market.
Following the Covid epidemic, leader Kim Jong Un mobilized medical units of his army to distribute drugs to pharmacies with 24-hour availability. but the scope of his order was limited to pharmacies in Pyongyang.
North Korea’s health system also faces logistical and systemic problems, including an ill-defined intensive care system and a lack of emergency transport systems, said David Hong, a pediatric neurosurgeon who last visited North Korea during a humanitarian trip in November 2019. .
International sanctions have limited North Korea’s ability to repair and receive new machine parts, preventing it from producing its own medical supplies, Hong said.
In a 2021 report to the UN, North Korea said it was struggling with “a lack of capacity for health personnel, a low technical base for pharmaceutical and medical devices and a shortage of essential medicines.” The country added that some of its pharmaceutical, vaccine and medical device plants do not meet WHO production standards and are not sufficient for local demand.
China is bringing North Korea closer than ever when Biden visits the region
Lack of access to medicines, consumables
North Korea had a shortage of drugs even before closing its border in 2019 due to declining donor funding for drug-supplying agencies and sanctions restricting local production, said Nagy Shafiq, a former manager at the WHO office in Pyongyang. last there in May 2019.
The country’s most urgent needs are test kits, personal protective equipment and drugs – in particular antiviral drugs used to treat covid-19, he added.
Hong said North Korea is unlikely to be able to increase production of such supplies, which will limit the country’s ability to control outbreaks and leave health workers vulnerable.
“This could potentially be very catastrophic for the North Korean people,” Hong said. “And with limited communication with experienced doctors, they will have to determine the right paradigms for treating what was a new and difficult to manage disease for most of the world.
North Korean Air Koryo planes flew to the Chinese city of Shenyang on Monday to pick up medical supplies, according to local media reports. The Chinese Foreign Ministry did not confirm the reports, but said it was ready to help North Korea fight Covid.
Lack of food and home remedies
Kim has restricted travel around the country and the response is being processed at the “inminban” level, with small groups of neighbors monitoring the other’s activities, said Jiro Ishimaru, founder of Japan-based Asia-based Rimjingang news agency Asia Press.
The state media focused on home remedies. In a story entitled “How to Treat Patients with Fever,” official Rodong Sinmun recommended “Korean-style treatment” for patients with mild symptoms. One of the proposed remedies was to boil willow leaves in hot water and drink three times a day.
North Korea is entering a “tense” winter: the issue of closed borders and food supplies
Over the past week, Ishimaru said, sources in the border region said they were concerned about the spread of Covid, especially during the rice planting season, when there is high demand for work, and the declining supply of rice harvested in the fall.
Those who have a fever have to isolate themselves at home and receive treatment without a clear way to access food – increasing fears of people dying of quarantine starvation, Ishimaru said. Residents fear blockages throughout the city and county, similar to those in Shanghai, with no access to food, he said.
“Since the beginning of covid, [cross-border] trade was halted and the flow of drugs stopped. “The whole medical system has collapsed,” Ishimaru said. “People are at risk of dying because they do not have access to medicine. This is a man-made crisis. The most important thing for North Koreans right now is access to food. “
Adam Taylor of Washington contributed to this report.
Add Comment