Indonesia pledges to fight tuberculosis

Indonesia pledges to fight tuberculosis

JAKARTA (JP): Indonesia will fight to reduce the prevalence of
tuberculosis by 50 percent in the next five years with an
integrated anti-TB program, Minister of Health F.A. Moeloek said
on Friday.

Addressing a seminar sponsored by the Japan Anti-Tuberculosis
Association (JATA), Moeloek said tuberculosis, or TB, had become
the third-biggest killer in Indonesia. Most of the cases were
found in the low socioeconomic bracket, and "thanks to the
economic crisis, this group is getting bigger", he said.

The number of TB cases in Indonesia has been increasing in
recent years. Around 450,000 new cases are found each year,
causing 175,000 deaths annually, Moeloek said, adding that his
ministry had responded by implementing a new strategy called
Direct Observed Treatment Short Course (DOTS).

This strategy consists of five components: political
commitment, diagnosis by smear microscopy, well-organized
distribution of TB drugs, directly observed treatment, and good
reporting and recording systems.

The ministry declared "War Against TB" last November and
launched the National TB Control Program Integrated Movement
(Gerdunas TB) in March, requiring all medical facilities treating
TB nationwide to implement DOTS, Moeloek said.

The DOTS strategy had received support from medical
professionals' associations, such as the Indonesian Medical
Association (IDI) and the Indonesian Pulmonologist Association
(PDPI). The Ministry of Health had also coordinated with other
ministries to work hand-in-hand combating TB, Moeloek said.

Nadia Ait Khaled of the Paris-based International Union
Against Tuberculosis and Lung Disease (IUATLD) said that there
were more than eight million new TB cases and more than three
million deaths from the disease every year. Southeast Asian and
Sub-Saharan African countries had 90 percent of the world's TB
cases.

Indonesia was one of the most infected countries, with 230
cases per 100,000 population, compared to industrialized
countries, which have less than 10 cases per 100,000 population,
Nadia said.

"Less than 20 percent of TB cases are treated by physicians in
Indonesia," she said.

Nadia also supported the multisectoral approach taken by the
government. "Especially the government's effort to eradicate
poverty," she said. (05)