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