Today is World Aids Day, and North Korea felt compelled to tout its reported lack of the disease, which official media attributed to the countries public health system:

…people are leading a happy life free from its damage thanks to the public health policy of the government in (North Korea), where man is valued most and everything serves the people… (emphasis added)

The official media apparently did not attribute the lack due to the fact that the nation is a xenophobic prison state in a constant state of lock-down, or to the fact that starving to death tends to reduce the tendency to engage in casual sex.

It is not surprising that North Koreans have an extremely low – almost nonexistent – occurrence of AIDS. Korea has traditionally been conservative (yes, things have changed in the South) in regard to extra-marital relations, epically for women. As the spread of AIDS is overwhelmingly fueled by promiscuity (e.g. Africa, gays), North Koreans would be at a low risk regardless of other factors. Add to that the xenophobic nature of Koreans in general, compounded with the effect of the regime, the risk is even lower. A final damper on the spread is that financial considerations and food shortages tend to discourage any activity that might bring another mouth to feed into the world, even with the availability of abortion in North Korea.

So yes, of all the things that make life a living hell for North Koreans, at least AIDS is not one of them. But can the DPRK public health system take the credit? Not a chance.