Treatment Needed for Thousands with Disabilities in the DPRK

Eunice’s story was a perfect example of how it is never too late to learn. At the age of twelve, she transformed from a child not able to stand on her own to walking with the use of an aid. With some hard work and determination, she overcame all odds and learned how to read and write. Eunice proved that, regardless of age, children with developmental disabilities have the potential to regain lost function both physically and mentally.

Just before Eunice was a boy named Il-Sun. As Ignis Community began focusing on children with developmental disabilities, every month new patients came to the Pyongyang Medical School Hospital to be treated. Il-Sun came to the Pediatric Ward to be treated for cerebral palsy in 2014. Having diplegic cerebral palsy, Il-Sun had movement in his limbs but at the age of six he was still unable to stand or walk on his own. After a few months of treatment when Il-Sun was crawling and beginning to stand on his own, Il-Sun returned home with his mother, Mrs. Lee, for a break.

Stephen Yoon Treating Il-Sun in the Pyongyang Medical School Hospital

Unfortunately, Il-Sun’s story does not have as happy of an ending as Eunice’s did. Il-Sun and his mother were unable to return for treatment due to the long waiting list of patients in the hospital. Although Ignis Community was establishing the Pyongyang Spine Rehabilitation Center (PYSRC) so that thousands of mothers with their children could come to Pyongyang for specialized treatment in developmental disabilities such as cerebral palsy, the center at that time had not yet been completed.

Mrs. Lee and her son have now been waiting for over six years for treatment, and their current whereabouts are unknown. In North Korea, many children with cerebral palsy and other developmental disabilities do not survive for that length of time without timely medical intervention.

Il-Sun Learning to Crawl in the Hospital

It is for children like Il-Sun that Ignis Community has not given up on providing quality care and treatment for children with cerebral palsy and other disabilities in North Korea. The process has taken longer than anticipated. We have not only had the burden of raising support for a specialty hospital in Pyongyang, but also with global sanctions, U.S. travel restrictions, and the COVID pandemic, the development of the PYSRC has been slow.

Thanks to our faithful supporters, Ignis Community has completed the construction of both the exterior and interior of our five-story specialty hospital on the Pyongyang Medical School Hospital campus. Our first shipment of medical equipment arrived on June 14th this year, but we are having to waiting out the current COVID situation before sending our larger, second medical shipment to Pyongyang.

According to world-wide statistics, approximately two to three babies out of one-thousand births are born with cerebral palsy. Autism is even more prevalent. Approximately 1% of all children are diagnosed on the autism spectrum disorder. That means that there are literally thousands of children in need of treatment in the DPRK. Cerebral palsy and ASD are only two out of twenty-four diagnoses for developmental disabilities. It is therefore reasonable to assume that tens of thousands of children in North Korea who currently have no treatment are in need of medical intervention.

As soon as DPRK borders re-open, Ignis Community is ready to ship medical equipment into Pyongyang as well as to send in medical professionals to continue the development of treatment for children with developmental disabilities. The task seems overwhelming. We have the entire country to treat and the nation’s medical system to expand. Yet as we make a difference in the life of one child at a time, Ignis Community is providing hope for the children of North Korea. Perhaps we will once again meet Il-Sun again as the doors for treatment swing wide open for children with disabilities in the DPRK.