Japan is struggling to deal with a sharp increase in the number of cases of tuberculosis among the growing number of foreign nationals living and working in the country

A total of 16,789 new cases of tuberculosis were recorded across Japan in 2017, down from 17,625 cases the previous year, and a notification rate of 13.9 incidents per 100,000 population. That figure was a continuation of the steady decline towards the government’s target of below 10 cases per 100,000 population by the year 2020.

But health authorities are worried about the 1,530 cases among immigrants. Those cases account for close to 10 per cent of the total, a figure that was 40 per cent higher than four years previously, according to Japan's Research Institute of Tuberculosis.

The problem is exacerbated by foreign workers’ failure to seek treatment because they fear they will lose their jobs and have to leave the country.