Journal of Rehabilitation Medicine: Special Issue 50-4bokBW | Page 40

J Rehabil Med 2018; 50: 342 – 345
SPECIAL REPORT
SITUATION ANALYSIS OF REHABILITATION SERVICES TO SUPPORT THE NATIONAL DISABILITY AND REHABILITATION PLAN IN THE DEMOCRATIC PEOPLE’ S REPUBLIC OF KOREA
Boya NUGRAHA, MS, PhD 1, 2 and Christoph GUTENBRUNNER, MD, PhD, FRCP 1 From the 1 Department of Rehabilitation Medicine, Hannover Medical School, Hannover, Germany and
2
Graduate Program Faculty of Medicine, Universitas Gadjah Mada, Yogyakarta 55281, Indonesia
Objective: In 2013, the Democratic People’ s Republic of Korea( DPRK) signed the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities( UN-CRPD). Since the concept of rehabilitation services in the DPRK did not meet international standards, the government, through the Korean Federation for Protection of the Disabled( KFPD) and Munsu Rehabilitation Hospital( MRH), set up a technical consultation with external experts. Methods: Two rounds of consultations were performed, in August 2016 and March 2017, with available methodology, as used in previous consultation processes, but excluding site visits. The consultations started by collecting available data and holding workshops with representatives from the KFPD and the MRH. The results are listed as recommendations for the improvement of health-related rehabilitation services in the DPRK. The results were further developed by KFPD into a draft National Strategy and Action Plan on Comprehensive Rehabilitation( NSAPCR) 2017 – 2020. The draft was discussed with external experts for further improvement prior to discussion with the government. Results and discussion: Overall, the consultation processes was successful, despite the limitation of not making site visits. Recent developments in the DPRK include ratification of the UN-CRPD in December 2016. The authors hope that the NS- APCR can be implemented successfully, leading to improved quality of life for people with disabilities in the DPRK.
Key words: rehabilitation service; situation analysis; rehabilitation advisory teams; national disability; health and rehabilitation plan; rehabilitation professions.
Accepted Nov 15, 2017; Epub ahead of print Feb 14, 2017
J Rehabil Med 2018; 50: 342 – 345
Correspondence address: Boya Nugraha, Department of Rehabilitation Medicine, Hannover Medical School, Carl-Neuberg-Str. 1, DE-30625 Hannover, Germany. E- mail: boya. nugraha @ gmail. com

T

he Democratic People’ s Republic of Korea
( DPRK) is located in the Korean peninsula in east Asia. It shares land borders with the Republic of Korea in the south and China and Russia in the north. The DPRK has sea borders with Japan through the Sea of Japan in the east and with China through the Yellow Sea and Korean Bay in the west. The capital of DPRK is Pyongyang
According to the 2014 census carried out by the DPRK Ministry of Public Health, the population was 24,895,000, with the following age distribution: 0 – 15 years, 20.8 %; 16 – 30 years, 65.9 %; and 60 – 90 years, 13.3 %. The sex distribution for this population was 48.74 % male and 51.26 % female, with distribution being 61 % rural and 395 urban( 1).
The gross domestic product( GDP) in 2013, based on purchasing power parity per capita, was 1,004 USD, with an economic growth rate of 5.9 % annually in the period between 2009 and 2013( 1).
Common causes of death are non-communicable diseases( NCDs), including stroke, lung disease, coronary heart disease, and cancer( 1). Major risk factors are smoking and excessive alcohol consumption. All of these factors could also lead to an increase in disability rates.
In 2013, the DPRK made a strong commitment to improving the situation of people with disabilities by signing the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities( UN- CRPD)( 2). Meanwhile, there is an increasing need for integration of people with disabilities into society and, based on the information available regarding rehabilitation services( e. g. professionals and service delivery), which includes a lack of comprehensive rehabilitation services, there is an urgent need to strengthen related rehabilitation services in the DPRK. Therefore, a technical consultation with external consultants was performed in August 2016 and March 2017, with support from Handicap International, the Korean Federation for the Protection of the Disabled( KFPD), and Munsu Rehabilitation Hospital( MRH).
METHODS
The technical consultation was performed as described by Gutenbrunner & Nugraha.( 3), excluding site visits, and holding discussions with only 2 representatives, 1 doi: 10.2340 / 16501977-2305
This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC license. www. medicaljournals. se / jrm Journal Compilation © 2018 Foundation of Rehabilitation Information. ISSN 1650-1977