North Korean App Database Reveals Stark Medical Divide Between Capital And Provinces

An analysis of a database from a North Korean smartphone software program reveals that Pyongyang has far more medical companies than anyplace else inside the nation. The analysis implies that North Koreans in rural areas battle to acquire appropriate medical care.

Every single day NK obtained a database file often called healths.db used inside the “nicely being” app on North Korean smartphones. The file incorporates particulars about 193 medical companies — 26 hospitals, 119 pharmacies, 21 pharmaceutical vegetation, 13 medical evaluation labs and 14 sanatoriums — in North Korea’s 105 cities and counties.

The guidelines, remaining updated in 2023, solely consists of companies registered for app clients. It is going to in all probability’t be considered an entire guidelines of all medical companies in North Korea.

Nonetheless, the database makes clear that North Korea’s medical infrastructure is concentrated in Pyongyang, revealing the medical imbalance between the capital and the provinces.

An important focus of medical companies is in Pyongyang’s Central District, home to 37 companies altogether — one hospital, 28 pharmacies, six pharmaceutical vegetation and two medical evaluation labs. Completely different capital districts with huge numbers of medical companies are Pyongchon (34), Taedonggang (32), Mangyongdae (31) and Potonggang (29).

In distinction, no hospitals or pharmacies are listed for 55 counties that characterize spherical half of the cities and counties inside the database. That confirms the stark disparity in medical infrastructure between Pyongyang and the provinces.

Capital dominates pharmaceutical manufacturing

Notably, sanatoriums are the one class of medical facility not concentrated inside the capital. In precise reality, the entire sanatoriums listed inside the database are located inside the provinces.

Moreover placing is the reality that eight districts of Pyongyang — along with Jung, Pyongchon and Taedonggang — have every pharmaceutical evaluation companies and manufacturing companies. Mangyongdae, particularly, hosts 11 pharmaceutical vegetation and three medical evaluation labs, suggesting that the district is the center of the North Korean medical commerce.

The shut proximity of pharmaceutical evaluation and manufacturing appears aimed towards maximizing the effectivity of every. Having new medicines produced at factories near the labs the place they’d been developed is presumably an effort to create synergy between human and supplies sources, whereas shortening the timeframe from enchancment to manufacturing.

In addition to, the database consists of the e-mail and residential addresses of facility representatives. All the emails have the realm @pt.net.kp, with “kp” being North Korea’s top-level space, “net” signifying a network-related group and “pt” presumably being North Korea’s Ministry of Posts and Telecommunications.

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