07-15-2010, 07:10 PM
This is all cut and pasted:
The government of North Korea proudly boasts that all health care in North Korea is free to its citizens.
But........
Defectors and health workers interviewed by Amnesty International said people have had to pay for treatment since the 1990s. However, because the country is so poor, many doctors are paid in cigarettes, alcohol or food. Only major surgery requires cash, which many North Koreans don't have.
North Korean hospitals often have to strap patients to operating tables while amputations and other surgeries are performed without anesthesia, the report said. It quotes a 56-year-old woman from the northeastern city of Musan who underwent surgery in 2001 to remove her appendix -- without anesthesia. "I was screaming so much from the pain, I thought I was going to die. They had tied my hands and legs to prevent me from moving," she said.
Another 24-year-old defector from North Korea's northeastern Hamkyong province said he had his left leg amputated (without anesthesia) from the calf down, after he fell from a train and damaged his ankle. "Five medical assistants held my arms and legs down to keep me from moving. I was in so much pain that I screamed and eventually fainted from pain," the man was quoted as saying. "I woke up one week later in a hospital bed."
The World Health Organization estimates that North Korea spends less than $1 on health care each year per person.
--------------------------------
Imagine that, National health care for only $1 per person per year. Now this is a health care plan we could afford over here.
The government of North Korea proudly boasts that all health care in North Korea is free to its citizens.
But........
Defectors and health workers interviewed by Amnesty International said people have had to pay for treatment since the 1990s. However, because the country is so poor, many doctors are paid in cigarettes, alcohol or food. Only major surgery requires cash, which many North Koreans don't have.
North Korean hospitals often have to strap patients to operating tables while amputations and other surgeries are performed without anesthesia, the report said. It quotes a 56-year-old woman from the northeastern city of Musan who underwent surgery in 2001 to remove her appendix -- without anesthesia. "I was screaming so much from the pain, I thought I was going to die. They had tied my hands and legs to prevent me from moving," she said.
Another 24-year-old defector from North Korea's northeastern Hamkyong province said he had his left leg amputated (without anesthesia) from the calf down, after he fell from a train and damaged his ankle. "Five medical assistants held my arms and legs down to keep me from moving. I was in so much pain that I screamed and eventually fainted from pain," the man was quoted as saying. "I woke up one week later in a hospital bed."
The World Health Organization estimates that North Korea spends less than $1 on health care each year per person.
--------------------------------
Imagine that, National health care for only $1 per person per year. Now this is a health care plan we could afford over here.
