Tuberculosis endemic in Central Java

SEMARANG: Some 82 percent of people aged between 15 years and 54 years in Central Java suffer from tuberculosis, threatening the province's future human resources, a health agency official said.

But the head of the Central Java health agency, Krishnajaya did not state the exact number of people suffering from the disease this year.

He said here on Friday that in 2001, some 40,300 people out of 31 million people suffered from the disease, most of whom came from the lower income group.

Krishnajaya said many hospitals had applied a strategy called Directly Observed Treatment Short Course (DOTS) to fight tuberculosis, but the results were not really satisfactory.

Krishnajaya admitted that the 1996-2001 program launched to combat the disease had not brought about significant results. --Antara