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)