Due to a long-term food crisis and limited medical resources, tuberculosis is the major health challenge facing North Koreans today.

From the late sixties until the mid-seventies, North Korea had a very effective tuberculosis treatment system. Thirteen tuberculosis hospitals and more than sixty tuberculosis care centers were established and an aggressive campaign was launched to combat this deadly disease. This effort initially made significant strides but lost momentum when a long-term economic downturn closed pharmaceutical and medical equipment factories. Chronic malnutrition due to food shortages sent patient numbers soaring.

Although tuberculosis infects the lungs, it can spread throughout the body. Even though approximately 50 out of 100 infected individuals who receive proper nutrition recover from the disease without treatment, approximately 25 become seriously ill with tuberculosis and the remaining 25 die. If left untreated, one tuberculosis patient can infect 10-15 persons per year. These rates increase when the general population suffers from malnutrition.