The Stanford University School of Medicine plans to send a team of doctors and healthcare providers to North Korea this month to help the country diagnose and treat tuberculosis, a media report said Wednesday.

The team will arrive in the North next Tuesday and plans to stay for two weeks to pass on know-how on how to combat TB to local doctors and nurses, Radio Free Asia said.

North Korea reportedly has a large number of people suffering from TB, with the disease being closely associated with poverty. A jump in cases following floods and poor harvests in the past had alarmed the international community and compelled them to ship medicine and other humanitarian supplies to the impoverished country.

The latest trip has been arranged by Christian Friends of Korea a U.S. non-profit group, it said. (Yonhap News)