I urge that starting in January 2023, the finding of TB incidence must reach 60 thousand per month by name and by address
Jakarta (ANTARA) - Health Minister Budi Gunadi Sadikin urged all parties to work in unison to find 60 thousand cases of Tuberculosis (TB) on a monthly basis in 2023 in order to eliminate TB in Indonesia by 2030.

"I urge that starting in January 2023, the finding of TB incidence must reach 60 thousand per month by name and by address," the minister noted in a statement here on Thursday.

During the multisector Tuberculosis High-Level Meeting (HLM) 2022 held in Surabaya, East Java, on Wednesday, he noted that the increase in the TB case-finding target is aimed at boosting the rate of TB screening that is currently still low.


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From the target of 969 thousand TB incidence in 2021, only around 50 to 60 percent, or 500-600 thousand cases, were found.

He noted that the complexity of TB is the same as that of COVID-19. Thus, TB control efforts can emulate the handling of the COVID-19 pandemic, starting from the strategy of strengthening testing, tracing, and treatment (3T) efforts to accelerating the finding of active cases in the community.

"When compared with COVID-19, in 18 months, we could detect 6.5 million cases by name and by address. In fact, the testing processes are both molecular, with TB being through TCM (rapid molecular test) while COVID-19 is through PCR (polymerase chain reaction)," he stated.


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He also emphasized that TB is an infectious disease that should be treated on an urgent basis, and the cases should be detected promptly. Hence, the surveillance system at the village, sub-district, district/city, and provincial levels should be adequate.

To achieve the TB elimination target by 2030, the Ministry of Health has started to rev up case-finding of TB through X-Ray screening and the provision of TB preventive therapy to household contacts of TB patients that is conducted simultaneously in 25 districts and cities.

Tracing and testing activities are strengthened with the launch of the locally-made daily dose medicine.


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Translator: Hreeloita Dharma, Raka Adji
Editor: Fardah Assegaf
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