Governor and Deputy Minister of Health Discuss TB Management in Jakarta

Jakarta Governor, Pramono Anung met Deputy Minister of Health, Benjamin Paulus Octavianus at City Hall, Thursday (11/13). During the meeting, they discussed tuberculosis handling in Jakarta.

TB must be eradicated

Pramono said the Find, Treat, Until Cured (TOSS) TB program is one of the Deputy Minister of Health's initiatives.

Deputy Minister of Health Appreciates TB Alert Village Program in North Jakarta

"That was one of his ideas. And yesterday, he went into the field with the Head of the Jakarta Health Agency to assess the TB problem in Jakarta," he said.

Pramono also encouraged the strengthening of the neighborhood unit (RW)-based TB Alert Village program to independently identify infected residents. He believes the more cases identified, the more effective treatment will be.

Meanwhile, the Deputy Minister of Health Benjamin stated that handling TB is part of the government's efforts to make Indonesia a developed country.

"Indonesia has the second-highest number of TB cases in the world, accounting for 10 percent of global TB cases. Therefore, if we want to become a developed nation, TB must be eradicated ," he stated.

He also requested that the Jakarta Health Agency ensure the availability of medication for TB patients. However, he argued that TB treatment requires more than just medication and medical facilities.

"People get TB due to nutritional factors, due to a weakened immune system. In slum areas, TB cases are certainly high. Therefore, we, with the Governor, have been regulating technical matters beyond medical matters," he continued.

Meanwhile, Head of Jakarta Health Agency, Ani Ruspitawati admitted the Ministry of Health has asked her side to identify 70,000 TB cases in Jakarta. Ani said the Health Agency has identified 49,000 cases so far.

"More than 90 percent of them have started treatment," she admitted.