"The average TB case finding per year in Indonesia before 2022 was around 50–60 percent or around 500 to 600 thousand cases found per year," he noted.
In terms of the number of TB cases, Indonesia ranks second after India, with the number of cases estimated to be around 969 thousand, with 93 thousand fatalities per year, or equivalent to 11 deaths per hour.
According to the Global TB Report, in 2022, tuberculosis most frequently affected the productive age population, especially those in the 25–34 age group.
In Indonesia, TB cases are most frequently experienced by people in the age group of 45 until 54 years.
According to Syahril, the number of TB cases in Indonesia has been the highest ever since the lung disease became a national priority.
"Detection is the early step to medicate patients with TB. Thus, until 2022, intensive TB detection was undertaken," he stated.
The highest detection of TB cases is due to the commitment from the government and more intensive surveillance, Syahril said.
"Health Minister Budi Gunadi Sadikin urged all health officials to prioritize searching for TB patients so that 90 percent of the figure can be detected by 2024," he noted.
The ministry has created a new protocol and is cooperating with various professional associations and organizations, including encouraging the Global Fund’s distribution to provinces, districts, and cities for faster realization.
To expedite TB handling, the Indonesian government established a TB handling cooperation with the United Arab Emirates (UAE) on November 14, 2022, Syahril informed.
The UAE Government is committed to delivering financial aid worth US$10 million to support the TB prevention program in Indonesia.
Finding cases as early as possible and medicating them completely until the patients recover is one of the most important efforts in stopping TB infection in society, he added.
The success percentage for drug-sensitive TB medication in Indonesia in 2022 reached 85 percent while the success percentage for drug-resistant TB medication in Indonesia in 2022 in general stood at 55 percent.
The TB Elimination National Strategy contained within the Presidential Regulation No. 67 of 2021 on tuberculosis mitigation instructs commitment strengthening, TB service access improvement, and TB promotion and prevention effort optimization.
It also involves TB medication and infection control as well as technology and research results utilization.
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Translator: Andi Firdaus, Fadhli Ruhman
Editor: Rahmad Nasution
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