"The (treatment) success rate of TB in Indonesia is still far from the target of 90 percent, between 65-70 percent, on average," PDPI Chairperson Agus Dwi Susanto stated at the "Yes We Can End TB" press conference followed online here on Friday.
He added that based on the Health Ministry's report last year, TB treatment coverage stood at 74 percent, with a success rate of below 90 percent.
Susanto stated that based on data from the Global Tuberculosis Report 2022, Indonesia was ranked second as the country with the highest number of new TB cases after India, with an estimated 969 thousand cases.
The National Healthcare and Social Security Agency (BPJS Kesehatan) even stated that TB is one of the diseases for which high costs are borne for handling.
"For TB handling, from 2002, we obtained Rp5.2 trillion reported by BPJS Kesehatan," he stated.
He opined that the supervision of TB patients had yet to be optimal. All parties stand to learn from the COVID-19 pandemic to work hand in hand in handling the disease, starting from early detection to treatment and rehabilitation.
This is deemed necessary as TB is a disease that is affected by economic and social factors, and the transmission is relatively easy, through droplets or air.
"Of course, it is feared that if we failed to detect and treat it, the TB case will become a source of transmission in the community, and the case will not be resolved and cannot be eliminated," he cautioned.
The PDPI chairperson expressed optimism that all national strategies formulated by the government would be able to give positive results and impacts on Indonesia's health sector, especially in the elimination of TB cases.
PDPI will support the programs made by several relevant parties, be it in terms of prevention, detection, or treatment management.
On the occasion, he also invited all families to play an active role in maintaining their health and the environment's health to avoid TB transmission.
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Translator: Hreeloita Dharma, Raka Adji
Editor: Rahmad Nasution
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