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. 2013 May;46(3):111-7.
doi: 10.3961/jpmph.2013.46.3.111. Epub 2013 May 31.

Overview of the burden of diseases in North Korea

Yo Han Lee  1 , Seok-Jun Yoon, Young Ae Kim, Ji Won Yeom, In-Hwan Oh
Affiliations

Overview of the burden of diseases in North Korea

Yo Han Lee et al. J Prev Med Public Health. 2013 May.

Abstract

This article evaluates the overall current disease burden of North Korea through the recent databases of international organizations. It is notable that North Korea as a nation is exhibiting a relatively low burden from deaths and that there is greater burden from deaths caused by non-communicable diseases than from those caused by communicable diseases and malnutrition. However, the absolute magnitude of problems from communicable diseases like TB and from child malnutrition, which will increase the disease burden in the future, remains great. North Korea, which needs to handle both communicable and nutritional conditions, and non-communicable diseases, whose burden is ever more increasing in the nation, can now be understood as a country with the 'double-burden' of disease.

Keywords: Childhood malnutrition; Communicable diseases; Democratic People's Republic of Korea; Disease burden; Mortality; Non-communicable disease.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors have no conflicts of interest with the material presented in this paper.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Mortality and prevalence of non-communicable diseases risk factors among member states of World Health Organization-designated South-East Asia region. Modified from World Health Organization. Noncommunicable diseases in the South-East Asia region 2011; 2011 [Internet] [8].
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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