Poverty blamed for spread tuberculosis

Poverty blamed for spread tuberculosis

Suherdjoko and Rusman, The Jakarta Post, Semarang/Samarinda

The number of tuberculosis sufferers increased to 36,820, with
12,000 fatalities, in Central Java province this year and that
number is expected to go higher due partly to poverty, a local
health official said on Friday.

Central Java health office head Krishnajaya said that the
sufferers were among about 583,000 people, who have contracted TB
throughout the country with some 140,000 fatalities each year.

He added that only 28.3 percent had access to medication.

"From 10 sufferers, 75 percent of them are in their productive
years and 60 percent are poor people," Krishnajaya said on the
sidelines of a World Tuberculosis Day event.

He said the increase in the number of TB sufferers was because
of the fact that people were ashamed of admitting that they had
it.

Besides, the sufferers were mostly low-income people, unable
to afford treatment.

"TB and poverty are apparently part of a vicious circle that
makes the situation worse. To overcome this, efforts must be made
to break the cycle of the spread on one hand and eradicate
poverty on the other," Krishnajya said.

He said that since 1993, special preventive measures to fight
TB had been successfully implemented by the World Health
Organization (WHO), which declared TB a Global Emergency.

Part of an effective strategy was promoting a program called
DOTS (Direct Observed Treatment Shortcourse), he said, adding
that it had significantly increased recovery rates.

Krishnajaya said TB patients could be cured by regularly
taking medication for between six and eight months.

He called on the sufferers to get examined by their condition
at local health community centers (Puskesmas) free of charge.

Meanwhile in Samarinda, East Kalimantan, the number of TB
sufferers hit at least 3,134 but only 806 of them were detected
with a cure rate reaching 73 percent.

Sogiyanto, duty manager at the East Kalimantan Health office,
blamed on Friday filthy living conditions and low awareness on
the part of sufferers for the spread of TB in the province.

Apart from that, inadequate facilities, poor human resources
and lack of funds were also part of the problems hampering
efforts to fight TB, he added.

He said poverty also contributed to the increase in the number
of TB patients.

However, he said it seemed ironic that with the annual budget
of Rp 3 trillion (US$353 million) for East Kalimantan, the spread
of TB should have been able to be curbed.

"Therefore, to minimize the spread of the disease, regencies
and municipalities have set up an Indonesian Tuberculosis
Eradication Association (PPTI)," Sogiyanto added.

PPTI's tasks include educating people on TB eradication and
providing training sessions.