Received a Loan of 300 Million Dollars to Overcome Tuberculosis, Minister of Health Budi Sadikin: Many Programs Halted During the Pandemic

JAKARTA - The Minister of Health, Budi Gunadi Sadikin, welcomed the disbursement of 300 million US dollars or the equivalent of IDR 4.4 trillion (state budget exchange rate of IDR 14,800) from the World Bank to help treat tuberculosis (TB) in Indonesia.

According to the Minister of Health, Indonesia's health system is facing increasing challenges to find and treat TB cases, especially since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic.

"World Bank financing will support the strengthening of the national tuberculosis program which was severely hampered by the COVID-19 pandemic", he said in an official statement quoted on Wednesday, January 18.

The Minister of Health explained that apart from having a significant impact on health and productive activities, the economic burden caused by TB is enormous. He said a study found that the total annual costs related to tuberculosis in Indonesia reached US$6.9 billion, including lost productivity due to contracting the disease and premature death.

"This will help the health transformation agenda by strengthening the response of primary health services and achieving our goal of reducing 90 percent of new TB cases by 2030", he said.

On the same occasion, World Bank Director, Satu Kahkonen, stated that this financing would strengthen Indonesia's response to tuberculosis while paving the way for a stronger primary health care system.

"Indonesia has shown its commitment to eradicating tuberculosis and the World Bank is proud to support this struggle", said Kahkonen.

Meanwhile, the new support from the World Bank is in line with the 2021-2025 Country Partnership Framework, particularly in maintaining human capital by strengthening quality and equity in health services.

Note, Indonesia is the third largest contributor to the number of TB globally. In 2021, Indonesia had 10.6 million new TB cases, which made up 9 percent of the world. This disease kills 150,000 people every year in Indonesia.