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omonatheydid
Surgery without anaesthetics, unsterilised needles and epidemics worsened by malnutrition illustrate the desperate state of North Korea's health care system, Amnesty International have said.
Food shortages have persisted since the 1990s famine and some North Koreans survive partly on grass, tree roots and bark, the international rights group said in a report.
The communist state says health care is free for all, but Amnesty said many witnesses told it they have had to pay for all services since the 1990s.
Doctors were usually paid in cigarettes, alcohol or food for consultations and took cash for tests or surgery.
"If you don't have money, you die," the report quoted a 20-year-old woman refugee as saying.
The report, citing World Health Organization (WHO) figures, said the North spent less on health care than any other country -- under one dollar per person per year in total.
It urged the North to take effective steps to tackle food shortages, including accepting international assistance and ensuring the transparent delivery of food aid.
Amnesty called on the international community to support the UN's "grossly underfunded" World Food Programme and other aid groups, and to ensure provision of aid is based on need and not political considerations.
"It is crucial that aid to North Korea is not used as a political football by donor countries," said Catherine Baber, Amnesty's deputy Asia-Pacific director, in a statement.
The report paints a Dickensian portrait of barely functioning hospitals bereft of anaesthetics and medicines, with unsterilised needles and bloodstained sheets.
Amnesty said its report was based on interviews with more than 40 North Koreans now living overseas and with health professionals working in the secretive country.
It quoted a 56-year-old woman from the northeastern city of Musan who underwent surgery to remove her appendix in 2001 without anaesthesia.
"I was screaming so much from the pain, I thought I was going to die. They had tied my hands and legs to prevent me from moving," she said.
Baber said the North failed to provide for the most basic health and survival needs of its people, especially those too poor to pay for medical care.
Amnesty reported that many people bypass doctors altogether and go to the markets to buy medicine, which they administer through guesswork or the advice of stallholders.
"The government's failure to provide basic education about using medication is especially worrying as North Korea fights a tuberculosis epidemic," Baber said.
Quoting WHO figures, the report estimated that five percent of the 24 million people are infected with tuberculosis and a growing number have developed resistance to first-line drugs.
Amnesty cited constant food shortages, worsened by policies such as a botched currency revaluation last November. A 2008 UN survey showed nine million people lacked enough food.
But Amnesty said the government had been reluctant to seek international assistance. In March 2009, as relations became more strained, the North refused to accept any further US food aid.
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Date: 2010-07-16 12:21 am (UTC)Oh goodness, can someone shoot Kim Jong-Il and his group already?
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Date: 2010-07-16 03:50 am (UTC)I agree with you on this one. =__=;;;
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From:no subject
Date: 2010-07-16 12:21 am (UTC)IDEK....
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Date: 2010-07-16 06:02 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-07-16 12:25 am (UTC)Crucial, yes, but don't count on it. :| unfortunately, these days that's all "humanitarianism" is worth to most world leaders, in the long run. Everything is a "political football". This is going to be no exception, terrible as it is.
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Date: 2010-07-16 12:34 am (UTC)(no subject)
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Date: 2010-07-16 12:29 am (UTC)D:
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Date: 2010-07-16 12:37 am (UTC)(no subject)
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Date: 2010-07-16 12:33 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-07-16 12:37 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-07-16 01:46 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-07-16 12:41 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-07-16 12:42 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-07-16 12:43 am (UTC)omg wut
this is like some crazy middle ages shit
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Date: 2010-07-16 01:02 am (UTC)(no subject)
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Date: 2010-07-16 01:27 am (UTC)(no subject)
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Date: 2010-07-16 01:02 am (UTC)Without anesthetics?
Date: 2010-07-16 01:02 am (UTC)These things make you wish and hope that there really is a hell, so that that guy can go and burn in it. I'm just sayin.
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Date: 2010-07-16 01:06 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-07-16 01:24 am (UTC)They wouldn't accept it even if the people in the country are suffering from malnutrition already? That's messed up. =/
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Date: 2010-07-16 01:24 am (UTC)Good god I hate the fact that China still supports this place if only because they are "communist" and I hate that the world wont do shit cause no one dares to mess with China...
Stupid international politics aka the UN is useless
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Date: 2010-07-16 03:55 am (UTC)The China situation is a very sticky one though. I would love it if China just stood up one day and said, "FUCK YOU NORTH KOREA" but it can't. It's too complicated right now. China sided with NK in the first place because the US had good ties with SK. China needed to kinda...counterbalance that. NK relies on China for MANY things as well; China makes up most of NK's already limited trade.
China's pressured already because it knows that the "right" thing to do is to stand against NK but seriously...there's just too much going on right now for it to suddenly cut off all ties with that country.
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Date: 2010-07-16 01:35 am (UTC)=/
Sounds though like even if you DO have money, you're at risk of dying.
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Date: 2010-07-16 07:30 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-07-16 01:41 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-07-16 01:51 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-07-16 02:12 am (UTC)five percent of the 24 million people are infected with tuberculosis and a growing number have developed resistance to first-line drugs.
constant food shortages
wtf, NK is going to kill all their citizens from neglect by the time KJI's son comes into power.
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Date: 2010-07-16 03:03 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-07-16 03:17 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-07-16 03:45 am (UTC)how barberic, if the disease did not kill u, the surgery might, or the infection most likely will =(
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Date: 2010-07-16 04:02 am (UTC)Some Bieber magic outta fix this up/brickedBut seriously, this is horrifying to read. The part about "Surgery without anaesthetics" is what scares me the most. D:
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Date: 2010-07-16 04:20 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-07-16 05:17 am (UTC)I can't even.
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Date: 2010-07-16 06:24 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-07-16 07:31 am (UTC)