More than 4 million vaccine doses have been flown toPyongyang, raising hopes that North Korea could open up again to UN agencies and NGOs amid reports of a worsening health situation in the authoritarian state.
“The return of essential vaccines marks a significant milestone towards safeguarding children’s health and survival in this country,” Roland Kupka, Unicef’s acting representative for the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, said in a statement.
The vaccines include those against hepatitis B, polio, measles and tetanus, and were provided by Unicef, the World Health Organization and Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance. Organisers say they are intended for 600,000 children and pregnant women who have missed out on vaccines since the Covid-19 pandemic. They are to be administered as part of a catch-up campaign in September by the North Korean ministry of public health.
It follows numerous calls from the US and human rights groups for North Korea, considered one of the poorest countries in the world, to reopen its borders so that vital aid can be delivered.
Almost all international aid workers had to leave during the Covid pandemic as the country shut its borders and tightened import controls. This diminished medicine and vaccine supplies as well as food imports, increasing malnutrition and leaving many – including newborns – vulnerable to deadly diseases such as tuberculosis and measles. Prior to the pandemic, almost half of the population was undernourished and since then several floods and typhoons have hit the country, further jeopardising health.