Eliminate The Stigma Of TB Patients, Ministry Of Health Involves Young People In The TB Warriors 2.0 Campaign

Illustration of tuberculosis (TBC) patients. (Pixabay)

JATENG - The Ministry of Health (Kemenkes) involved young people launching the TB Warriors 2.0 educational campaign to eradicate tuberculosis (TBC) and stigmatize sufferers.

The young people are in four private institutions. The launch of this campaign took place at the Mangkunegaran Temple in Surakarta, Central Java, Wednesday, June 21.

"Involving young people is the key to changing behavior and eliminating TB stigma to achieve the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals to end TB by 2030," said Ministry of Health's Director of Prevention and Control of Infectious Diseases, Imran Pambudi, in a statement.

Imran said this campaign is also a development of the first 'TB Warriors' initiative in 2022.

"Tuberculosis is a world health problem that attacks all age groups," said Imran.

Imran added, based on the 2022 Global TB Report, TB in Indonesia is the second most deadly infectious disease in the world after COVID-19.

"Millions of people are not diagnosed every year so they are not treated properly. Two-thirds of the sufferers come from the Asia Pacific region from the cumulative calculation of global TB sufferers, and Indonesia is the country with the second-highest TB sufferer," he said.

The transmission rate of TB in the 15-24 year age group reached 20 times higher than that of other age groups. Unfortunately, 82 percent of them are currently not seeking treatment and treatment for several reasons, such as a lack of awareness of TB symptoms, stigma, and other reasons.

The TB Warriors 2.0 initiative will focus on the involvement of young people in efforts to combat TB in Indonesia to encourage health search behavior in themselves and those around them. This is very important to find TB sufferers who were previously undiagnosed.

After receiving information, young people will be strong and motivated supporters to make an impact on their environment.

By allowing young people to access treatment, maintain health and ensure their participation as an effort to end TB at all levels, information facilities have been provided through the TB Warriors 2.0 campaign. The public can access the TB Warriors website to find out more information.