In-depth Analysis of Marketization trend of Dental Health Care System in North Korea

Abstract

Currently the unofficial health care system is growing in North Korea as the socialist public free medical treatment system is not working properly due to the prolonged economic recession.In the Kim Jong-Un era, the North Korean government has been making investments in the medical sector recommending policies for the devel-opment of the health care system. Suggestions such as the establishment of a health care system and large scale hospitals have been discussed, but the public and private systems are unbalanced in all the medical segments where the private sector seems to be growing at a faster pace. Such examples would be the pharmaceutical supply and medical delivery systems.A survey of in-depth interviews with 53 North Korean defectors who resided at Hanawon, South Korea in 2020 revealed that dentistry, particularly the prosthetic sector, is recognized mostly as private paying care and is rapidly growing. Overall oral healthcare, including dental care, is provided in private facilities of dental care providers outside the current public healthcare system. The growth and demand for dental care is supported in that it is observed very few patients who had missing teeth had received prosthetic treatment before 2010, while nearly half of those with lost teeth received prosthetic treatments at a personal private cost after 2018.Through this research, it is evaluated there is a strong growing demand for dental care in North Korea, and unofficial private dental care is filling the need as the current government system is inadequate.