N.Korea's health situation 'extremely worrying': Red Cross

The North Korean Red Cross has described the countrys health situation "extremely worrying" as a result of several international sanctions imposed on Pyongyang, the media reported on Thursday.

In a statement, the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) highlighted the need to provide more humanitarian assistance to the country, citing the situation as "one of the world's most chronic and forgotten crises", Yonhap news agency reported.

The Pyongyang regime is subject to economic and political sanctions by the UN and the US so as to force North Korea to cease its ballistic and nuclear weapons programme.

According to North Korea Red Cross General Secretary Ri Ho-rim, "the health situation in the country is extremely worrying and the impact of sanctions on basic medicines is severe", Efe news reported citing Yonhap.

"The sanctions continue to affect the capacity of agencies like the Red Cross to bring in supplies and scale up our response," an official from the IFRC said.

According to IFRC, 10.3 million North Koreans suffer from food insecurity, malnutrition and lack of access to basic services.

These problems were worsened in 2018 by a heat wave, drought, typhoons, floods and debris.

--IANS

pgh/mag/