Four years ago, in July of 2015, Ignis Community took a delegation of four North Korean doctors to Manila, Philippines. The delegation was hosted by the Philippine Pediatric Behavioral and Developmental Disability Association. In particularly, the former chairman of the association, Dr. Marie, was instrumental in connecting North Korean doctors with the medical system in the Philippines.

Myself, my husband, four North Korean doctors, and our hosts in the Philippines were able to tour the General Hospital in Manila, Pediatric Behavioral and Developmental Disability departments in various hospitals, private sector therapy centers, and specialized social service centers for children with developmental disabilities throughout the capital city of the Philippines. It was the North Korean doctors’ first exposure to a multi-disciplinary approach to treating children with developmental disabilities.

Children with developmental disabilities, such as cerebral palsy, require assistance from a myriad of medical departments. No one single department is capable of providing all the medical care that they require. Through our personal expertise in Rehabilitation Medicine, we were training North Korean doctors in the Pyongyang Medical School Hospital in this specialty. But children with cerebral palsy and other disabilities also need orthopedic intervention, speech and occupational therapy, early neonatal screening, neurological assessments, and medical care from a diverse array of medical specialties. The medical system in Manila gave us a glimpse of what it could look like if North Korean children received early intervention and screening for developmental disabilities, were referred to appropriate specialists, were treated with timely medical care, and received social services to help them integrate into society.

A lot was learned through that trip. Most importantly, at the conclusion of the trip, an MOU was signed between the Pyongyang Medical School and the Philippine National Medical School of Manila. This opened up the opportunity for North Korean doctors to come to the Philippines for further study and professional development in Pediatric specialties, Rehabilitation Medicine, and even Prosthetics and Orthotics.

Due to political changes and uncertainties, though, we have not been able to follow up with the opportunities in Manila until this week. On Wednesday, September 18, 2019, Dr. Marie and two other Filipino doctors arrived in Pyongyang, DPRK for a series of lectures and training in Developmental and Behavioral Disabilities. Dr. Marie is providing expert training in screening and treatment for children with developmental disabilities such as autism, cerebral palsy, and ADHD. The other two doctors include an Orthopedic Surgeon and a Pediatrician. Both will add to Dr. Marie’s training by providing a multi-disciplinary and holistic approach to treating pediatric patients and providing medical care for children with developmental disabilities.

The political climate of today challenges the provision of medical and humanitarian aid to North Korea. U.S. citizens are generally banned from traveling into the DPRK, and multiple licenses are required to ship medical equipment into the country. But we are grateful for partnerships like this one that allow our medical work in North Korea to continue. Filipino doctors are providing life-saving medical training for North Korean doctors in Pyongyang. This training could potentially save the lives of thousands of children with cerebral palsy, autism, and other developmental disabilities in the DPRK.