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KEI has a very useful new report on an effort to engage with North Korean on tuberculosis control. Among the findings:
- TB incidence in North Korea ranks number seven or number eight in the world, being one of the highest outside of sub-Saharan Africa;
- The epidemic seems to be growing, fueled by continuing food shortages and the high incidence of other infectious diseases that suppress the immune system;
- The incidence of drug-resistant strains is very high in Northeast Asia—the Russian Far East, Mongolia and China’s Northeast provinces--and increased movement across the border is likely to compound this problem in both directions.
There are a few bits of good news in the report. The Global Fund has reached agreement on a small bridge-funding program for the country. But most of the report focuses on a highly-innovative effort called the U.S.-DPRK Tuberculosis Project, a partnership of the Stanford Bay Area TB Consortium, the Nuclear Threat Initiative/Global Health and Security Initiative (NTI/Global Health and Security Initiative), and Christian Friends of Korea. The initiative has raised more than $500,000 to develop the DPRK’s first modern TB laboratory and looks to us like a model of “engagement from below.” Kudos.
