Minister Of Health: President Agrees To Increase US$500 Million Budget For TB Handling Funds

Minister of Health Budi Gunadi Sadikin conveyed the additional budget for handling Tuberculosis from President Prabowo in Badung, Bali, Monday (11/11/2024). ANTARA/Ni Putu Putri Muliantari

DENPASAR - Minister of Health (Menkes) Budi Gunadi Sadikin said President Prabowo Subianto officially approved the addition of a budget for the handling of Tuberculosis (TBC).

Minister of Health Budi Gunadi Sadikin said the additional funds were around 500 million US dollars or almost Rp. 8 trillion from the initial budget owned, which was 250 million US dollars.

"The president I spoke to, the President has agreed to give me another 500 million US dollars above that (250 million US dollars)," said the Minister of Health at the High Level Meeting On TB Innovation, Monday, November 11.

The handling of TB in Indonesia, which is ranked second in the highest cases in the world, will be handled with a budget of 750 US dollars and assisted from global funds.

The Minister of Health said the increase in the budget would be used for several programs, one of which was for screening, where to achieve the findings of 1 million cases per year 2025 it needed at least 7-8 million examinations.

"We made a program, hopefully next year we can launch it. The government will give prizes for screening, everyone on their birthday, the government will provide a free inspection program," he said.

This examination will be differentiated by age, where the baby's age will receive priority examinations compared to children, and children will also receive more examinations than adults.

"We distribute a lot of utilization, some for surveillance, earlier screening, also for medicine, and some for vaccines," said the Minister of Health.

The addition of 500 US dollars approved by President Prabowo cannot be separated from the mission to accelerate the handling of TB, namely the government's target of eliminating TB cases by 2030.

The Minister of Health reminded that to reduce costs only for wise programs, so that they will be right on target.

"We have to make sure that we spend the money wisely, I ask my friends to give me a technical decision in which area we should put our investment, how much should we allocate for screening, for the development of therapy, and also even some initial funding for clinical trials level one or two," said the Minister of Health as reported by ANTARA.