While North Korea's provocative threats often make headlines,  a more urgent crisis is unfolding within its borders: a  healthcare crisis impacting the country's children. The regime's aggressive stance has exacerbated this issue, leaving many children without necessary medical care and services.

North Korea's isolation has significantly worsened the situation. Restricted trade, investment, and persistent food shortages have severely impacted the healthcare sector, leading to a critial shortage of international medical supplies and technology. 

North Korea is the only country in the South-East Asian region that has gone without the polio vaccine for three consecutive years, with OPV3 immunization rates dropping from 98 percent in 2019 to zero between 2021 and 2023, and IPV coverage also falling to zero last year. (Source: SEA Regional annual reporting form, 2023)
North Korea is the only country in the South-East Asian region that has gone without the polio vaccine for three consecutive years, with OPV3 immunization rates dropping from 98 percent in 2019 to zero between 2021 and 2023, and IPV coverage also falling to zero last year. (Source: SEA Regional annual reporting form, 2023)

According to a report by the World Health Organization (WHO) released on Thursday, North Korea is the only nation in South-East Asia to go without the polio vaccine for three consecutive years. 

Immunization rates for the third dose of the oral polio vaccine (OPV3) dropped from 98 percent in 2019 to 70 percent in 2023,  and then, plunged to zero between 2021 and 2023. Similarly, coverage for the inactivated polio vaccine (IPV) decreased from 98 to 99 percent between 2019 and 2022 to zero in 2023.

The decline in other vaccinations is equally alarming. Bacillus Calmette-Guérin (BCG) immunization rates have dropped from the high 90s to a mere 63 percent. The country, which includes Hepatitis B birth doses in its routine immunization schedule, is the only nation in South-East Asia that recommends the vaccine at birth but did not administer it last year.  In addition, diphtheria and measles vaccination rates are languishing in the low teens (16 percent) and twenties (28 percent). 

The North Korean government has failed to provide any data on its vaccine spending. 

The DTP3 vaccine coverage in North Korea dropped from 97 percent in 2020 to 0 percent in 2022, but rose to 16 percent last year. (Source: SEA Region annual EPI reporting form, 2023)
The DTP3 vaccine coverage in North Korea dropped from 97 percent in 2020 to 0 percent in 2022, but rose to 16 percent last year. (Source: SEA Region annual EPI reporting form, 2023)

While the WHO and UNICEF’s regional vaccine action plan aims for a 5 percent drop-out threshold, North Korea has the highest drop-out rate, with many children receiving the first dose but not the third dose of DTP-containing vaccines (DTP1, DTP3). 

The DTP3 vaccine, a combination vaccine that protects against diphtheria, pertussis (wooping cough), and tetanus, is often used as an indicator of overall childhood vaccination.

In North Korea, coverage has plummeted from 97 percent in 2020 to 41 percent in 2021, before dropping to 0 percent in 2022. However, the DTP vaccination rate increased to 16 percent last year.

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