The human rights organization Amnesty International (AI) believes that the state in North Korea does not provide basic health care to citizens. Hospitals are barely functioning and many people are too poor to pay for drugs and treatments, the AI report says.
According to a report published on Thursday by BBC News, widespread malnutrition is exacerbating the effects of the epidemic and poor hygiene.
The organization based its findings on interviews with 40 people who fled North Korea in 2004-2009. She also consulted doctors who cooperate with this country.
Authorities in Pyongyang insist on free medical care for citizens, but AI interlocutors report that they have had to pay for all services for the past 20 years. As one of them said, there are no medicines in hospitals and patients have to buy them themselves.
People usually pay for medical services with cigarettes, food and alcohol. Those with nothing to pay don’t even try to go to the hospital, a woman who escaped from North Korea in 2008 told the organization.
According to AI, the country is still suffering from an epidemic of tuberculosis, exacerbated by malnutrition. Its inhabitants are in dire need of medical help and food – indicates the activist of the organization Catherine Barber. It urges that aid to North Korea should not be used as a political game between contributing countries.
According to statistics from the World Health Organization (WHO), Pyongyang spends less than one dollar per person on healthcare per year. (PAP)