Health care in the DPRK

2 May 2010 - A few years ago I had the opportunity to visit North Korea for a work-related exploratory mission. We visited hospitals in Pyongyang, but also in more rural areas including on the Chinese border. Today I read that WHO head Dr. Margaret Chan said - after visiting the country - that North Korea's health care system would be the envy of many developing countries, because of the abundance of medical staff that it has available. I do remember the medical staff: sweet, humble, hard-working people who were trying to do their best with the limited resources in dilapidated buildings. We visited in May, and I can only imagine the bitter cold in winter. Earlier this year news reports said that North Koreans were starving again, and even Dr. Chan admitted that (quote) "nutrition is an area that the government has to pay attention to ...". One wonders what Dr. Chan wants to achieve with such ignorant comments.