Jakarta Has Identified 40,000 Tuberculosis Cases

Jakarta (ANTARA) - The Jakarta Provincial Government, through its Health Agency, has identified around 40,000 tuberculosis (TB) cases across the province.

“We have identified more than 40,000 TB cases in Jakarta so far. Our target is to identify around 68,000 cases,” Jakarta Health Agency head Ani Ruspitawati said in Jakarta on Wednesday.

Ani said Jakarta was one of five provinces with relatively high numbers of TB cases. According to the Health Ministry’s figures from last September, Jakarta ranked second after Bangka Belitung.

In addition to taking part in central government programmes, the Jakarta Provincial Government is also running its own initiatives. One of the major efforts is integrating TB case-finding with the Free Health Check (CKG) programme.

“This reflects the fact that TB remains strongly associated with stigma, leading some members of the public to refuse testing when we try to find cases,” Ani said.

The first step in addressing TB is to identify cases. For this reason, the Jakarta Provincial Government has integrated TB screening with CKG.

“People come in for CKG, but at the same time we trace the possibility of TB cases,” Ani said.