SynthesisMedicine2019
Changes in medical research trends of North Korea after economic sanctions: A PRISMA-compliant systematic literature review of North Korean medical journals.
Synthesis in Medicine, 2019. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 5 papers.
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Who cites it
5 citing papers in PubMed.
- The Impact of Economic Sanctions on Health and Strategies for Mitigation: A Glance at the Case of Iran.International journal of preventive medicine · 2025Review
- Understanding pediatric surgical needs in North Korea: a modeling analysis.World journal of pediatric surgery · 2024Article
- Investigating the Anti-inflammatory Effect of Allopurinol on the Prevention of Prostate Cancer.Cureus · 2023Article
- Challenge of Politico-Economic Sanctions on Pharmaceutical Procurement in Iran: A Qualitative Study.Iranian journal of medical sciences · 2022Article
- Characteristics and Distribution of Surgical Diseases in North Korean Research Papers Published between 2006 and 2017.Journal of Korean medical science · 2021Article
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Authors and funding
6 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundIn the 1980s, North Korea established a socialist health care system. However, following the food crisis and the economic sanctions, it is estimated that North Korea's health care system has experienced continuous deterioration. Thus, in the present study, we estimated the current medical research trends of North Korea through an analysis of the medical journal Korean Medicine, published in North Korea.
methodsWe analyzed the studies in Korean Medicine, which is the only North Korean medical journal accessible to foreigners with more than 30 years of data available, based on PRISMA guidelines. We analyzed the issues of the journal published for a total of 7 years, from 1985 onwards at 5-year intervals until 2015. To evaluate changes in the North Korean medical research trends, we compared and analyzed the issues published before and after the implementation of economic sanctions against North Korea.
resultsIn this study, we analyzed 775 articles of Korean Medicine. Following economic sanctions, the number of publications on approved services (conventional therapy and diagnosis)-related articles was decreased. In contrast, the articles related to non-conventional therapy increased sharply in number. This showed a similar pattern to North Korean medical research trends seen during the food crisis of 1995 to 1997.
conclusionsAfter placement of economic sanctions on North Korea, North Korean medical research trends changed significantly. These could be indirectly estimated results suggesting that recently, the North Korean health care system had deteriorated, similarly to in the food crisis of 1995 to 1997.
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