The debate about health care in the US always involves statistics from international organizations and one of the most frequently cited is the World Health Organization (WHO), an arm of the United Nations (UN). In its latest report it ranks the US #37, behind #1 France, #2 Italy and #3 Andorra. These "unbiased" statistics are always cited to close debate about whose health care system reigns supreme; anyone who disagrees is accused of being uninformed, biased or in the pocket of Big Pharma.
Its spokesman, Paul Garwood, has now come out in defense of the North Koran medical system. He has to because his boss was recently quoted as delivering effusive praise of health care in the North:
The issue is sensitive for WHO because its director-general, Margaret Chan, praised the communist country after a visit in April and described its health care as the "envy" of most developing nations.
Amnesty International, on the other hand, describes North Korean health care this way ...
Amnesty's report on Thursday described North Korea's health care system in shambles, with doctors sometimes performing amputations without anesthesia and working by candlelight in hospitals lacking essential medicine, heat and power. It also raised questions about whether coverage is universal as it — and WHO — claimed, noting most interviewees said they or a family member had given doctors cigarettes, alcohol or money to receive medical care. And those without any of these reported that they could get no health assistance at all.
WHO learned from Obama after the election of Scott Brown to the "Kennedy Seat" in Massachusetts. Remember how he said the election of Brown confirmed the fact that the people were angry about Bush and that's why Brown was elected? So WHO ("North Korea is the envy of the developing world") and Amnesty ("North Korean medical care is a shambles") were really saying the same thing.
Garwood and WHO spokeswoman Fadela Chaib insisted that Amnesty's report was complementary to their boss' observations, and sought to downplay Chan's praise for North Korea. Instead, they focused on the challenges she outlined for North Korea, from poor infrastructure and equipment to malnutrition and an inadequate supply of medicines.
In the end they gave the game away. Just as CNN whitewashed Saddam Hussein's Iraq just to maintain access to that country, WHO does the same for North Korea.
Asked Friday what countries were envious of North Korea's health, Chaib said she couldn't name any. But she highlighted the importance of maintaining the health body's presence in the country, where officials do their best to save lives despite "persisting challenges."
"We are an organization dealing with member states, and we respect the sovereignty of all countries," Chaib said. "We need to work there to improve the lives of people."
The next time you hear WHO cited as the definitive word on health care in the world, keep this in mind: WHO has told us whose medical system it admires most and is a model for the developing world.
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