"Indonesia is the second-biggest contributor of TB cases in the world after India, with an estimation of 969 thousand new cases each year and 144 thousand deaths in a year. Of the number, not all have been found. It means not all (patients) have been treated and cured," he noted through a text message here Friday.
The Director of the Postgraduate School of YARSI University explained that as of data in February 2023, the finding of TB cases in 2022 had reached 74 percent.
Meanwhile, those who entered treatment reached 85 percent for drug-sensitive TB patients and 54 percent for drug-resistant TB patients.
Of those treated, the treatment success rate for drug-sensitive TB patients stood at 85 percent. Meanwhile, the target has been set at 90 percent. Moreover, the targeted treatment success rate for drug-resistant TB patients is 80 percent, though it has only reached 51 percent.
In addition, several people have latent TB infection in which TB germs are present in the body but are inactive. However, if the person's immune system drops, then the germs can become active and cause TB.
Aditama, who is concurrently the former director of Communicable Diseases at the World Health Organization (WHO) Southeast Asia Regional Office, stated that around a quarter of the world's population had been infected with TB bacteria, and they have a 5-10 percent risk of suffering from active TB.
"Therefore, TB Preventive Treatment (TPT) is needed. Unfortunately, our TPT coverage is also still very low," he remarked.
Aditama expressed hope that in line with World TB Day, commemorated every March 24, TB handling could be improved, and all parties could work hard to achieve the target of eliminating TB by 2030.
He suggested the government and relevant parties to follow the five guidelines of the WHO related to TB preventive treatment, systematic screening for TB, rapid testing for TB detection, treatment of drug-resistant TB, and how to handle TB cases in children and adults.
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Translator: Hreeloita Dharma, Raka Adji
Editor: Rahmad Nasution
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