▲ Stephen Linton, the founder and chairman of the Eugene Bell Foundation in the conference on Tuberculosis in the Korean Peninsula and Global Health ⓒ the Daily NK

Cambridge, MA – Shin Young Jeon, associate professor and head of department of preventive medicine at Hanyang University, quoted a specialist in Tuberculosis Case Center in North Korea which has been reported on “people’s health (inminbogun)” saying that there were at least 8 million tuberculosis patients in North Korea.

He stated the fact that “tuberculosis is a prevalent disease in an area where economy is fragile and public health is not working,” on the 25th in the Harvard University in the conference on Tuberculosis in the Korean Peninsula and Global Health co-sponsored by the Korea Institute, Harvard University; the Harvard University Asia Center; the Eugene Bell Foundation; the Division of Global Health Equity at Brigham and Women’s Hospital, and Harvard Medical School.

He said, “It is like a puzzle game to find out the true picture of North Korea.” Professor Shin pointed out inaccuracy of North Korean official data indicating 42,591 tuberculosis patients, but he sees this is inauthentic. Based on anti-tuberculosis drugs provided to North Korea, the number of patient mounts to more than 70,000. Moreover, the North Korean government recently requested tuberculosis drugs good for 100,000 per year.

Shin shared that “recently there is growing number of reports on non-respondent tuberculosis to the conventional anti-tuberculosis drugs in North Korea.” Unfortunately, however, “we do not know whether it is Multi-drug Resistant Tuberculosis (MDR TB) or not. Because they do not have a facility for required diagnosis.” MDR TB is often deemed fatal for its difficulty of treatment.

Stephen Linton, the founder and chairman of the Eugene Bell Foundation, revealed that he has eye-witnessed North Korean doctors making their own bandages and recycling IVs.

Linton continued to witness that doctors had to use rusty needles to inject tuberculosis medicine directly to lungs.

Linton turned to the catastrophe of tuberculosis in North Korea by quoting one of the North Korean public health officials: “Our number one, two and three health concerns are tuberculosis.” For the lack of medical resources, even performing diagnosis of tuberculosis—not to mention treatment—is difficult.

According to Linton’s presentation, the break-down of basic infrastructures brought doctors to perform surgery without electricity. Linton points out that “We take electricity for granted. However we need to see that modern medicine floats on indispensible infrastructures of society.”

Linton testifies that “North Koreans are diagnosed with tuberculosis with a process called direct fluoroscopy, which means that the patient is placed between the doctor and a radiation source and in a dim room. And the radiation is then shot through the patient into a fluoroscopy screen in front of the doctor’s face.”

However, the diagnosis is not necessarily helpful for most of them end up incarcerated in an isolated sanitarium. Linton saw a man incarcerated for 15 years.

According to Linton, in order to cope with the broken system, many have proposed recharging the national level healthcare system from the top-down. However, when it comes to real life, systematic issues prevent most local level hospitals from substantial support. Linton said that this was not necessarily a result of corruption, but more of a repercussion of insecurity of the system.