The Ministry Of Health Will Screen TB Cases On A Large Scale

JAKARTA - In commemoration of World Tuberculosis (TBC) Day which falls today, the government will boost the handling of TB cases in Indonesia. How, by screening TB cases that have not been detected on a large scale.

This effort was made considering that Indonesia's TBC disease ranks third after India and China with 824 thousand cases and 93,000 deaths per year, equivalent to 11 deaths per hour.

Unfortunately, of the estimated 824,000 TB patients in Indonesia, only 49 percent were found and treated. Thus, there are as many as 500 thousand people who have not been treated and are at risk of becoming a source of transmission.

The Director of Infectious Disease Prevention and Control (P2PM) of the Ministry of Health, Didik Budijanto, said that his party will screen TB for 500 thousand cases that have not been found.

Screening is carried out with X-Ray Artificial Intelligence equipment to provide faster and more efficient TB diagnosis results.

"We are planning a transformational large-scale screening by utilizing X-Ray Artificial Intelligence equipment to provide faster and more efficient TB diagnosis results, including bi-directional testing for diabetics so that they get TB treatment as early as possible", said Didik quoted in the official website of the Ministry of Health, Thursday, March 24.

Didik continued, this screening effort is a mandate from President Joko Widodo who wants TB to be eliminated in 2013. This is stated in Presidential Regulation No. 67 of 2021 concerning TB Control (tuberculosis).

"Therefore, efforts to find cases as early as possible, complete treatment until recovery is one of the most important efforts in deciding TB transmission in the community", said Didik.

Furthermore, as many as 91 percent of TB cases in Indonesia are pulmonary TB which have the potential to infect healthy people around them.

Currently, case finding and high TB treatment have been carried out in several areas including Banten, Gorontalo, DKI Jakarta, North Sulawesi, and West Sulawesi. Meanwhile, the areas with the most TB cases are concentrated in Java, such as DKI Jakarta, West Java, East Java, and Central Java.

"Actually, TB usually exists in crowded areas, slum areas, and areas where PHBS (Clean and Healthy Living Behavior) is lacking, where the potential for TB transmission is high", said Didik.

For information, TB is a disease that attacks the respiratory tract and respiratory organs. The initial symptoms of TB are coughing with phlegm continuously for 2 to 3 weeks or more, then shortness of breath, chest pain, weakness and feeling unwell, decreased appetite, weight loss, and usually what appears to be sweating at night even though you are not doing any activities.