North Korean authorities are instructing citizens to treat influenza with home remedies like vinegar and saltwater, even as the country experiences a widespread outbreak of the illness, according to reports from inside the country.
A source in North Hamgyong Province told Radio Free Asia (RFA) on March 18 that “recently, a flu-like illness has spread, and people in every neighborhood are bedridden.” The source said that, instead of providing medication, health officials are promoting unproven treatments. “The guidance coming down from the district offices and people’s committees is to drink boiled eggs with 100g of vinegar, or to drink water made with jujube and ginger for more than two weeks,” the source said. “They’re even telling people with sore throats to gargle with saltwater – that’s the official treatment for the flu.”
The source added that authorities are advising residents to try these remedies for a fortnight before seeking medical attention, prompting criticism. “People are saying, ‘Are they saying we should only live if we don’t die?’ or ‘Who will seize responsibility if the illness worsens after two weeks?’”
Another source in North Pyongan Province, speaking to RFA on March 19, described difficulties accessing proper medical care. “If you go to the hospital, doctors will always identify excuses to demand bribes,” the source said. “It’s common for them to refuse treatment altogether unless you offer them cigarettes or cash.” Even those who receive a prescription often have to purchase basic medical supplies, such as alcohol swabs and intravenous fluids, themselves, the source added.
The source stated that despite these conditions, authorities continue to claim that the country’s socialist healthcare system is “the most advanced in the world,” leaving residents shocked by the current guidance. “In the past, authorities recommended garlic as a flu remedy, even having students wear necklaces filled with penicillin and mycin bottles containing garlic,” the source said. “Now they’re promoting saltwater and vinegar – Here’s the reality of our country’s healthcare system, which supposedly eliminates worries about medical treatment.”
Kim Ji-eun, a North Korean defector who became the first Korean medical doctor to be licensed in both North and South Korea, has spoken extensively about the deficiencies within the North Korean medical system. According to a 2021 book about her life, Kim Ji-eun graduated from the Cheongjin Medical University in North Hamgyong Province and worked as a pediatrician before defecting. She later petitioned the South Korean National Assembly to revise the ‘North Korean Defector Settlement Support and Protection Act’ to allow defectors to take the national medical licensing exam in South Korea without having to return to the North to retrieve their university transcripts.
Article 1 of Chapter 1 of the North Korean People’s Health Law states that the law “is to protect the life and promote the health of the people, the most precious beings in the world, and to contribute positively to the socialist cause.”
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