North Korean Children's Lives At Risk If Drought Continues, Warns UNICEF

BANGKOK, July 9 (Bernama) -- North Korean children are already suffering as a result of drought in some parts of the country and many more may be at serious risk of malnutrition and disease if it continues, UNICEF warned on Wednesday. In a statement, UNICEF said its personnel had recently met with local health officials in the affected provinces who confirmed reports of significant increases in diarrhoea among children, as the absence of rain threatened access to safe water and sanitation. Rainfall figures and information from humanitarian agencies and the government indicated that parts of North Korea were already facing serious drought, it said. "Lack of rain reduces access to clean water and undermines effective hygiene, putting the children's lives at risk," said UNICEF regional director, Daniel Toole. "UNICEF has already received reports that the incidence of diarrhoea – globally a leading cause of death among young children – has increased significantly in the first six months of 2015 in the drought-affected provinces." Data received by UNICEF shows that three provinces, namely North Hwanghae, South Hamgyong and South Hwanghae, are most affected by the decline in rainfall. Information on the incidence of childhood diarrhoea in those provinces in the first six months of 2015 showed a 71 per cent rise in North Hwanghae Province, 34 per cent in South Hamgyong and 140 per cent in South Hwanghae Province. UNICEF's concern about the impact of the drought is heightened by the existing poor nutritional status of many children in North Korea. A 2012 study showed one-quarter of all children in North Korea had symptoms of chronic malnutrition – a condition that is usually caused by a combination of unsafe water and poor sanitation, inadequate food intake, and inadequate access to health services. These children are particularly vulnerable, because children who are malnourished have less resilience to water-borne illness and disease. UNICEF has released prepositioned emergency supplies to help those in the worst-affected provinces, including water purification tablets, water storage containers and health supplies for children with severe acute malnutrition. "The situation is urgent. But if we act now – by providing urgently needed expertise and prepositioning supplies – we can save lives," Toole explained. "If we delay until we are certain of crop failures, it may well be too late to save the most vulnerable children," he added. --BERNAMA