inp.polri.go.id - Jakarta. The Health Ministry says early detection is the key in eliminating Tuberculosis (TB) from Indonesia which the number has been going down year by year.

“TB is a disease that can be cured if it is discovered early and TB can also be prevented through early screening,” says the Director of Infectious Diseases, Ina Agustina on Tuesday (1/21/2025).

Director Ina says that Indonesia ranked second with the highest TB cases in the world with the estimation of 1,090,000 cases and 125,000 fatalities in 2023.

For 2024, Director Ina says there are 860,100 TB cases confirmed and 751,574 of them are undergoing treatment.

“This is not only a national issue, but global, which has estimated around 1 billion people in the world died due to TB in the past 200 years,” says Director Ina.

Early case detection is required so the infected would not infect the others. The community's lack of understanding about TB is also a challenge in efforts to suppress the number of infectious diseases.

The government, he said, has identified a number of problems and prepared strategic steps to accelerate the handling of this disease.

The government, he said, has identified several problems and planned the strategic steps in accelerating the handling of the disease.

One of the plans is to optimize the active screening with X-ray which has integrated with genetic screening.

In addition, integration of TB information data is a major focus in reducing unreported cases.

However, TB handling cannot rely on the health sector or the government alone. It requires cooperation from all parties, especially penta helix cooperation.

"So, cross-sector collaboration from the center to the regions, the involvement of academics, the private sector, the community, and the media are needed in this effort," said Director Ina.

He believes that through detection of TB cases and continuous treatment, the number of TB cases or prevalence can be reduced.

(ad/ndt/pr/nm)