High number of TB deaths 'preventable'

High number of TB deaths 'preventable'

JAKARTA (JP): Health officials have expressed concern at the
high number of deaths due to tuberculosis, as most of the 175,000
people who die from the disease in Indonesia each year need not
do.

World Health Organization (WHO) senior health planner for
Indonesia Mark Brooks lamented that so many sufferers die each
year given that "with only Rp 120,000 a person can be cured from
TB (tuberculosis)."

"But the problem is TB patients will often stop taking
medication once they feel better," Brooks said, adding that it
was essential for patients to maintain their discipline in
consuming the medication for the whole period of the treatment.

Patients must continue with a strict medication regime for
four to six months to be free from the Mycobacterium tuberculosis
bacilli which causes the disease, he said during a meeting here
with health ministry officials, vice governors and legislators.

Health minister Achmad Sujudi also warned that stopping
medication before the end of its course was dangerous as it built
up the bacteria's resistance.

"Medication costs for patients once the bacteria becomes
resistant will be 10 to 20 times more expensive than the initial
treatment," Sujudi warned.

He said the ministry had taken steps to ensure that patients
stick to their medicine by establishing a national committee that
recruits observers to make sure patients take their medicine.

The committee was formed by former minister of health Farid A.
Moeloek on March 24, 1999. It uses directly observed therapy
(DOTS) or short course.

TB kills 8,000 people every day worldwide. Indonesia is third
in the world after China and India in numbers of TB deaths.

Some 580,000 new people are infected with TB every year in the
country.

Sujudi said many people, especially the poor, often
misdiagnose TB with other health disorders, such as anemia.

"A person with TB who is not treated can infect 10 to 15 other
people," Sujudi said.

The disease can spread through coughs and sneezes.

However, Sujudi remained confident that with the various
measures being taken the government can achieve its target of
treating 70 percent of all TB patients in the country by
2005. (08)