Tuberculosis remains serious public health threat in China: WHO

China has 1 million new tuberculosis cases every year, with the majority of patients being low-income individuals, said the World Health Organization (WHO).

Tuberculosis is a disease of poverty in China, and it remains the number one public health threat among infectious diseases, WHO Representative in China Dr Bernhard Schwartlander said on Monday, one day ahead of World Tuberculosis Day on Tuesday.

Among the 1 million new cases, about 100,000 patients are completely missed by the health system, and about 54,200 have multi-drug resistant tuberculosis (MDR-TB), which costs more and takes longer to treat.

MDR-TB patients have to pay around 40,000 yuan ($6,436) for each course of treatment, according to the WHO.

Over 550 million Chinese are infected with the tuberculosis bacteria, around 80 percent of whom live in rural areas.

Zhi Xiuyi, head of the Lung Cancer Treatment Center at Xuanwu Hospital in Beijing, told the Global Times on Monday that both tuberculosis patients and doctors in China's rural areas are not sufficiently knowledgeable about the disease.

"Most patients in less-developed areas will not consult doctors if the disease does not affect their life or work," Zhi said, adding that they also often appear in public places without any protection, which spreads the bacteria.

Zhi called on the government to introduce more free aid programs to rural patients.

The WHO said that China is piloting new treatment models to provide cheap services to patients.

It also believes that China will lead efforts to wipe out tuberculosis in the next 20 years.