Jakarta, IO – In 2022, the Minister of Health reported the detection of 700,000 active cases of tuberculosis (“TB”) in our country. This is the highest number of cases detected since TB became a priority national health program. Indonesia has the second-highest number of TB sufferers after India, with a total of 969,000 cases and an annual death rate of 93,000. That’s a death rate of 11 deaths an hour.
According to the 2022 Global TB Report, the highest incidence occurs precisely in the productive age, especially among people 25-34 years old. In Indonesia, TB mostly occurs among the productive age demographic, especially among people 45-54.
Ministry of Health Spokesman dr. Mohammad Syahril, Sp.P(K), MPH, declared that this high number of TB cases detected reflects the Government’s commitment to surveillance of the disease. “Detection is the first step in treating TB patients. We (the Ministry) prioritize the mitigation effort of the disease, by diagnosing 90% of TB sufferers by 2024. Therefore, we started a massive TB screening effort in 2022,” he declared.
The Ministry of Health has created a new protocol in cooperation with multiple associations and professional organizations. It has also gathered global funds to be directed towards all our provinces, regencies, and municipalities for faster realization of the scheme. To further accelerate the mitigation and eradication of TB, the Government cooperates with other countries, including the United Arab Emirates (“UAE”), starting 14 November 2022.
Through a Diplomatic Note of the Embassy of the UAE in Jakarta No. 1/3/19-281, the Government of the UAE expressed its commitment to provide USD 10 million in financial aid to support the TB prevention program in Indonesia. Finding cases as early as possible, and treating patients until they are cured, are the most important efforts in cutting off the chain of TB infection in society.
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In the National Strategy of TB Elimination described in Presidential Regulation Number 67 of 2021 concerning the Mitigation of Tuberculosis, the several strategies used to mitigate the disease in Indonesia include the strengthening of commitments, the improvement of access to TB-related health services, the optimizing of TB-related health promotion and disease prevention efforts, TB treatment and infection control, and the utilization of the results of the latest research and technology. With all these efforts, the treatment success rate for medication-sensitive TB in 2022 was 85%, while that of medication-resistant TB for the same year was 55%. (est)
