Abstract
BackgroundTo gain insights into the socio-economic and political determinants of ill health and access to healthcare in North Korea.MethodsA retrospective survey using respondent-driven sampling conducted in 2014–15 among 383 North Korean refugees newly resettling in South Korea, asking about experiences of illness and utilization of healthcare while in North Korea, analyzed according to measures of political, economic and human rights indicators.ResultsAlthough the Public Health Act claims that North Korea provides the comprehensive free care system, respondents reported high levels of unmet need and, among those obtaining care, widespread informal expenditure. Of the respondents, 55.1% (95%CI, 47.7–63.7%) had received healthcare for the most recent illness episode. High informal costs (53.8%, 95%CI, 45.1–60.8%) and a lack of medicines (39.5%, 95%CI, 33.3–47.1%) were reported as major healthcare barriers resulting in extensive self-medication with narcotic analgesics (53.7%, 95%CI, 45.7–61.2%). In multivariate logistic regressions, party membership was associated with better access to healthcare (Adjusted OR (AOR) = 2.34, 95%CI, 1.31–4.18), but household income (AOR = 0.40, 95%CI 0.21–0.78) and informal market activity (AOR = 0.29, 95%CIs 0.15–0.50) with reduced access. Respondents who could not enjoy political and economic rights were substantially more likely to report illness and extremely reduced access to care, even with life-threatening conditions.ConclusionsThere are large disparities in health and access to healthcare in North Korea, associated with political and economic inequalities. The scope to use these findings to bring about change is limited but they can inform international agencies and humanitarian organizations working in this unique setting.
Highlights
To gain insights into the socio-economic and political determinants of ill health and access to healthcare in North Korea
A rapidly expanding informal market mechanism has resulted in parallel economic systems for commercial distribution of essential items and the informal generation of household income mostly through an informal system of local markets, termed Jangmadang filling the gaps created by the deteriorating Public Distribution system [10, 11]
Subtracting the ten initial seeds, a total of 383 North Korean refugees and migrants participated in the survey
Summary
To gain insights into the socio-economic and political determinants of ill health and access to healthcare in North Korea. Created as a state entity, it is funded by government revenues and delivered within an extensive network of well-staffed health facilities [1,2,3]. It has, in theory, provided universal coverage but the reality is somewhat different. A nascent informal market in healthcare has expanded [7] the government still presents the socialist health system as the only one [1, 3]
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