WHO lists North Korea as high-risk country for tuberculosis for 7th consecutive year

By Anadolu staff

ANKARA(AA) – The World Health Organization (WHO) ranked North Korea as one of the countries with the highest rates of tuberculosis in the world, local media reported on Wednesday.

According to WHO's 2024 Global Tuberculosis Report, North Korea had an estimated 135,000 cases of tuberculosis in 2023, a thousand more than the year before, the North Korea-focused NK News website reported.

With an estimated 513 cases per 100,000 residents, North Korea, along with the Central African Republic, Gabon, Lesotho, Myanmar, and the Philippines, still ranks as the nation with the highest number of tuberculosis patients.

It has been the seventh consecutive year that the UN health agency has listed North Korea as a high-risk country for tuberculosis.

The country is also at high risk for multidrug-resistant tuberculosis, a variant that is resistant to a range of medications.

The report identified undernutrition and smoking as the two key risk factors for tuberculosis in the country, which persistently failed to address the crisis due to its poor health infrastructure.

Earlier this year, a UNICEF report claimed that North Korean hospitals lack medicine and the knowledge to treat malnutrition and childhood illnesses on a nationwide level.

The urgency of the crisis, according to the publication, can propel Pyongyang to turn to its longtime ally Russia to help alleviate the health-related shortcomings.

In June, Russian state media reported that President Vladimir Putin discussed plans to help build a new hospital with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un.