Poverty blamed for spread tuberculosis<\/p>\n
Suherdjoko and Rusman, The Jakarta Post, Semarang\/Samarinda<\/p>\n
The number of tuberculosis sufferers increased to 36,820, with
\n12,000 fatalities, in Central Java province this year and that
\nnumber is expected to go higher due partly to poverty, a local
\nhealth official said on Friday.<\/p>\n
Central Java health office head Krishnajaya said that the
\nsufferers were among about 583,000 people, who have contracted TB
\nthroughout the country with some 140,000 fatalities each year.<\/p>\n
He added that only 28.3 percent had access to medication.<\/p>\n
\"From 10 sufferers, 75 percent of them are in their productive
\nyears and 60 percent are poor people,\" Krishnajaya said on the
\nsidelines of a World Tuberculosis Day event.<\/p>\n
He said the increase in the number of TB sufferers was because
\nof the fact that people were ashamed of admitting that they had
\nit.<\/p>\n
Besides, the sufferers were mostly low-income people, unable
\nto afford treatment.<\/p>\n
\"TB and poverty are apparently part of a vicious circle that
\nmakes the situation worse. To overcome this, efforts must be made
\nto break the cycle of the spread on one hand and eradicate
\npoverty on the other,\" Krishnajya said.<\/p>\n
He said that since 1993, special preventive measures to fight
\nTB had been successfully implemented by the World Health
\nOrganization (WHO), which declared TB a Global Emergency.<\/p>\n
Part of an effective strategy was promoting a program called
\nDOTS (Direct Observed Treatment Shortcourse), he said, adding
\nthat it had significantly increased recovery rates.<\/p>\n
Krishnajaya said TB patients could be cured by regularly
\ntaking medication for between six and eight months.<\/p>\n
He called on the sufferers to get examined by their condition
\nat local health community centers (Puskesmas) free of charge.<\/p>\n
Meanwhile in Samarinda, East Kalimantan, the number of TB
\nsufferers hit at least 3,134 but only 806 of them were detected
\nwith a cure rate reaching 73 percent.<\/p>\n
Sogiyanto, duty manager at the East Kalimantan Health office,
\nblamed on Friday filthy living conditions and low awareness on
\nthe part of sufferers for the spread of TB in the province.<\/p>\n
Apart from that, inadequate facilities, poor human resources
\nand lack of funds were also part of the problems hampering
\nefforts to fight TB, he added.<\/p>\n
He said poverty also contributed to the increase in the number
\nof TB patients.<\/p>\n
However, he said it seemed ironic that with the annual budget
\nof Rp 3 trillion (US$353 million) for East Kalimantan, the spread
\nof TB should have been able to be curbed.<\/p>\n
\"Therefore, to minimize the spread of the disease, regencies
\nand municipalities have set up an Indonesian Tuberculosis
\nEradication Association (PPTI),\" Sogiyanto added.<\/p>\n
PPTI's tasks include educating people on TB eradication and
\nproviding training sessions.<\/p>",
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