rightwinger
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Amazing that this country can continue to function
North Korea's 'horrifying' health care system - The Week
How bad are the hospitals in North Korea?
With the government spending less than $1 per person on health care per year, many hospitals operate without electricity or heat, and doctors are forced to work by candlelight. Most hospitals no longer stock medicines because staff sell them on the black market. And doctors perform serious operations without anesthetic, with orderlies restraining the patient while the doctor gets down to the grisly work. "I was in so much pain that I screamed and eventually fainted from the pain," a 24-year-old told Amnesty after having his leg amputated.
Why are people in North Korea so sick?
Food shortages have caused widespread malnutrition. More than a million North Koreans died of famine in the 1990s, and authorities began encouraging people to eat only two meals a day. The United Nations estimated in 1996 that wild foods, such as tree bark, roots, and grass, made up about 30 percent of the average North Korean's diet. And despite recent improvement, food is still in short supply. A bungled currency re-evaluation in 2009 doubled the price of rice overnight, leaving thousands to starve to death. And Amnesty says North Korea is in the throes of a tuberculosis epidemic brought on by malnutrition
North Korea's 'horrifying' health care system - The Week
How bad are the hospitals in North Korea?
With the government spending less than $1 per person on health care per year, many hospitals operate without electricity or heat, and doctors are forced to work by candlelight. Most hospitals no longer stock medicines because staff sell them on the black market. And doctors perform serious operations without anesthetic, with orderlies restraining the patient while the doctor gets down to the grisly work. "I was in so much pain that I screamed and eventually fainted from the pain," a 24-year-old told Amnesty after having his leg amputated.
Why are people in North Korea so sick?
Food shortages have caused widespread malnutrition. More than a million North Koreans died of famine in the 1990s, and authorities began encouraging people to eat only two meals a day. The United Nations estimated in 1996 that wild foods, such as tree bark, roots, and grass, made up about 30 percent of the average North Korean's diet. And despite recent improvement, food is still in short supply. A bungled currency re-evaluation in 2009 doubled the price of rice overnight, leaving thousands to starve to death. And Amnesty says North Korea is in the throes of a tuberculosis epidemic brought on by malnutrition
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