"We're running out of tuberculosis medicine in North Korea next June."

The suspension of the World Fund's aid to North Korea raises concerns that the country will run out of tuberculosis medicine by June next year. Given that it takes a long time to bring in goods from North Korea due to sanctions on the North, it is urgent to stock up on new medicines. Reporter Cho Eun-jung reports.

The U.N.-affiliated International Cooperation Agency says its stockpiles of tuberculosis treatment in North Korea will run out by June next year and therefore must be brought in within the next two months.

"The World Fund will resume its business in North Korea and new orders will be made in September to prevent (therapy) exhaustion after June next year," said Lucica DiTiu, the group's secretary general, in an interview with Devex, a humanitarian news outlet.

The World Fund for the Elimination of AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria suspended its eight-year-old project in February last year, saying that efficiency and risk management in the use of aid in the North fell short of the required level.

Visiting North Korea a few weeks ago, Ditiu said he had secured medicines and diagnostic reagents for tuberculosis patients in the communist country and that medical staff were continuing to monitor tuberculosis patients without cooperation from the World Fund, but this effort would not last long.

"The most important TB medication is not yet scarce, but it's not easy to send it inside North Korea, so it's difficult to respond immediately in the event of a contingency," said Dietiu.

In doing so, it takes an average of nine to 10 months to bring the medicine into North Korea.

Director Dietiu said the World Fund's contact with North Korean authorities regarding business conditions and implementation is a positive move to resume the project.

But Peter Sands, secretary general of the World Fund, told Debex that if implementation conditions, access to the site and verification improve this year, he would consider a new grant, but did not suggest an immediate resumption of the project.

UNICEF, the United Nations Children's Fund, which helped tuberculosis patients in North Korea with funds from the World Fund, is continuing its activities with a small amount of its own funds.

UNICEF says 5,000 children are currently being treated for tuberculosis in North Korea, especially children with tuberculosis.

The International Cooperation Agency plans to treat 1,200 multidrug-resistant patients in North Korea with World Health Organization funds this year.

Director Ditiu says the resumption of the World Fund's business in North Korea will not solve the tuberculosis problem alone, urging governments and donors to pay attention.

Yulik Burke, director of the North Korean Red Cross, says international sanctions have prevented the North from bringing in components of its vehicles used to transport medical devices, as well as 'vacuum' or ultraviolet-sterile radioactive devices that quickly diagnose tuberculosis.

The Eugene Bell Foundation, which visited North Korea in May, also said at a news conference that the country will run out of tuberculosis treatment supplies by June next year, and appealed for assistance to put a vacuum in the North.