Ministry of Health Optimises Tuberculosis Therapy to Prevent Case Transmission
Padang (ANTARA) - The Ministry of Health (Kemenkes) continues to optimise the provision of tuberculosis preventive therapy to the community, especially those living in the same household as identified patients, to prevent the transmission of the disease.
“Tuberculosis cases continue to emerge and develop because latent TB is not addressed. One of the groups at risk of latent TB infection is people in close household contact with TB patients,” said Deputy Minister of Health (Wamenkes) of Indonesia Benjamin Paulus Octavianus in Padang, West Sumatra, on Tuesday.
The Deputy Minister stated that the provision of therapy to household contacts of tuberculosis patients will be financed maximally by the central government. This includes providing related equipment for detecting the disease, such as portable X-rays and polymerase chain reaction (PCR) for tuberculosis screening or diagnosis.
“So far, portable X-rays have been distributed to 11 provinces,” he said.
For West Sumatra, prevention through therapy provision in the province is targeted to be substantial, at or above 80 percent by 2026. This target is an increase from 2025, which was 72 percent but not met. Therapy provision in 2025 was only realised at 8.4 percent, targeting 3,208 people.
Meanwhile, the estimated TB disease burden in the province in 2025 is projected to reach 25,037 cases, with identified case findings at 62 percent or 15,523 people.
“Suppose in one area there are 700 cases, then tuberculosis therapy provision is for 700 households. If one household has four people, then the total is around 2,800 people who must receive it,” he said.
As of the latest data on 6 May 2026, household contacts receiving tuberculosis therapy are still at 3.3 percent or 1,080 people, where each regency and city has only realised between 13 and zero percent.
“So latent TB means a person is infected with the TB germ but is not yet ill, so they need to be treated because they are at risk of active TB,” he said.