TBC and polio have become an iceberg phenomenon with quite a large number of patients, he remarked.
"The health minister has informed us that many of our children have leg disability because of polio. The same concern should be addressed to TBC as well," the minister noted in a statement from his office on Monday.
Karnavian pointed out that only 144 regional governments, such as Banten Province, DKI Jakarta, Yogyakarta, West Sumatra, Riau, Bengkulu, Jambi, and South Sumatra, had issued Instructions for Implementing National Immunization Week (PIN) for Polio and PIN Polio Task Force.
Meanwhile, only a few local governments were implementing TB handling with monitoring by the Home Affairs Ministry.
"The health minister said we must focus on the Papua region in particular. Papua, Papua Mountain, South Papua, West Papua, and Southwest Papua have not yet formed a team for polio," Karnavian emphasized.
He explained that this current situation is different from that of the COVID-19 pandemic when vaccines and medicines for polio and TBC were available.
Hence, the minister emphasized that the current challenge is to strengthen vaccination and speed up treatment for patients.
Related news: Ministry calls for active public participation in TB prevention
On the other hand, Acting Director General of Disease Prevention and Control (P2P) of the Ministry of Health, Yudhi Pramono, stated that some regional governments have not made efforts to address this problem.
"We still see some gaps between regions. We ask for support from Minister Karnavian for some regions with no development, especially for the Papua region," Pramono emphasized.
According to data from the Health Ministry as of July 2, 2024, some 10 districts and cities had the highest TB notification achievements: Tegal City, at 108 percent; Cirebon City, at 97 percent; Sukabumi City, at 90 percent; Singkawang City, at 72 percent; Kendari City and Tangerang City, each at 71 percent; Palopo City, at 68 percent; and North Morowali, Banda Aceh City, and Central Halmahera, each at 66 percent.
"There are also 10 districts and cities with low achievements or even zero achievement, such as Puncak District, Deiyai District, and Intan Jaya. They need support from regional heads," he revealed.
Pramono affirmed that PIN Polio coverage as of July 13, 2024, in Papua for PIN phase 1 on the 48th day failed to meet the 95 percent target in all provinces.
Coverage is still below the target, namely 49.8 percent for dose 1 and 20.7 percent for dose 2, he stated.
"For dose 1, from 42 districts and cities (all of Papua), Kaimana, Teluk Bintuni, and Sorong have reached the target. Meanwhile, for dose 2, no region has reached the target. We are pursuing this target with their regional head," he remarked.
Related news: Ministry targets 95 percent coverage from Polio immunization week
Translator: Narda Margaretha S, Resinta Sulistiyandari
Editor: Yuni Arisandy Sinaga
Copyright © ANTARA 2024
