Days ago a reporter of the Korea Today talked with Han Hui Suk, chief secretary of the Korea Association for Supporting the Children. Excerpts: I think it’s very important to protect and promote the health of children. Will you please tell me how the children in this country are faring? It is regarded as a very important thing in the world to bring up the children in good health for the future of the country and development of the human race. In our country the laws such as the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea Act of Public Health, Democratic People’s Republic of Korea Act of Nursing and Upbringing of Children and Democratic People’s Republic of Korea Act of Children’s Rights are in force providing a legal guarantee for social policies to ensure the children’s health and their living conditions.

Children’s health care is a concern of the whole society promoted by the institutions of treatment and preventive medicine for children, hygienic and anti-epidemic establishments, homes, day nurseries, kindergartens and schools. This has brought about a great improvement in the children’s health, nutrition and living conditions. The government has built the Okryu Children’s Hospital as a comprehensive centre for treating the children’s diseases, furnishing it with modern medical appliances. All the expenses are borne by the government.

ßI’d like to know about the recent activities of the association.

Our association, established on November 21, 2013, helps the government in its work to safeguard the children’s rights and improve their health, nutrition, intellectual development and other life services for all of them to grow up healthily and happily. Treating all alike in its activities irrespective of political view, religion, race, nationality, age, sex and physical handicap, it doesn’t seek commercial profits. The association began its work by visiting the nursing homes, children’s hospitals, day nurseries and nutriments producing factories to ascertain the children’s needs in their health, nutrition, education and life. There, we investigated in detail the health, physical growth and intellectual development of each child. Paying great attention to the nutrition of children in particular, we estimated the nutritive value of milk powder in its production processes and discussed the measures to supply good nutritious foods.

We have opened local offices and children’s clinics in many places to render services. Our association is concerned more about remote places and the districts crowded with women. Meanwhile, the mobile clinics are yielding great results. They not only solve problems arising in the children’s health care all over the country from the capital to the provinces but also provide medicines and nutrients to the retarded children. The efficient operation of the information diffusing room pleases the women a great deal. The lectures on such technical problems as nutritive conditions and their adjustment during pregnancy, nutrition management for children by ages, treatment and nourishment of sick children, and essential conditions for intellectual development have broad appeal to them. I think the association has many things to do in future. What is your plan?

Our association is still young, and so we must work hard to develop its abilities. We have to strengthen its material and technical faculties to meet the needs of the children’s health, nutrition, intellectual development and living conditions. It’s planning to exchange advanced methods and techniques of curing children’s diseases and good experience in the work of supporting the children through international meetings and seminars, and technical lectures and overseas training schemes. Recently many international organizations including the Save the Children International and the World Health Organization are cooperating closely with us. We hope that experts, organizations for supporting the children, national associations, social organizations, and individual personalities of other countries will come out in good earnest to cooperate with the Korea Association for Supporting the Children.