Health Minister: TB-CKG Screening in 532 Prisons Ensures Inmates' Rights
As a demonstration of its commitment to ensuring the right to healthcare for inmates, the Government has launched the National Kick-Off for Tuberculosis (TB) Screening and Free Health Checks (CKG) targeting individuals in 532 prisons across Indonesia.
“The President has instructed that this programme be carried out for all members of society, whoever they are, including the 272,000 inmates in more than 532 prisons and detention centres throughout Indonesia,” said Health Minister Budi Gunadi Sadikin in a statement in Jakarta on Tuesday.
He stated that the programme targets hundreds of thousands of convicts, detainees, juvenile inmates, and correctional officers across Indonesia. The activity is part of the President of the Republic of Indonesia’s priority programme (Quick Win).
“Thus, when they return to society, they remain healthy and have the same life expectancy as the average Indonesian, which is 74 years,” he said.
He also highlighted the high risk of tuberculosis (TB) transmission in correctional facilities. According to data, the prevalence of TB cases in prisons reaches 0.54 per cent, higher than the national average of 0.3 per cent.
According to him, the conditions of inmates living in crowded environments with close proximity between individuals cause a higher risk of disease transmission. Therefore, routine screening using chest X-rays is a crucial step.
“TB is contagious and should not be underestimated. However, treatment is available. If detected early and treated, patients will recover and no longer transmit the disease. This is why we are conducting TB screening in prisons, so that the mortality rate from TB can decrease sharply,” he said.
In agreement, Minister of Immigration and Corrections Agus Andrianto expressed his full commitment to ensuring the success of the early detection programme. He welcomed the collaboration with the Ministry of Health to support Indonesia’s target of eliminating TB by 2030.
“Indonesia remains the country with the second-highest number of TB cases in the world after India. Therefore, extraordinary measures are needed, including early detection in correctional environments which have a high risk of transmission,” said Agus.
To support the implementation of the programme, his ministry has also coordinated with the Minister of Health regarding the provision of facilities and infrastructure in prison and detention centre clinics.
“We have received some of the medical equipment, and this is very important to improve the quality of healthcare services for inmates,” he said.
Acting Director General of Disease Control at the Ministry of Health, Andi Saguni, explained that nationally the programme will target a total of 321,449 participants, consisting of 272,573 inmates and 48,876 officers in 532 Correctional Technical Implementation Units spread across 34 provinces. The programme will be implemented in stages until the end of 2026.
“As an initial stage, the launch on Nusakambangan will be carried out over four days, from 29 June to 1 July 2026, targeting 5,768 people, consisting of 4,842 inmates and 926 officers,” he said.
The Free Health Check service package provided includes height and weight measurements, blood pressure checks, blood sugar and cholesterol tests, rapid diagnostic tests (RDT) for HIV, TB screening using chest X-rays, and sputum sample collection for symptomatic participants to receive further treatment.