TEMPO.CO, Jakarta – The Ministry of Health declares tuberculosis or TBC in Indonesia ranks third after India and China. The number of TB sufferers in Indonesia reaches 824 thousand people with a fatality rate or death rate of 93 thousand per year. This figure is equivalent to 11 deaths per hour.
Director of Infectious Disease Prevention and Control or P2PM, Ministry of Health, Didik Budijanto said this year the government will conduct a large-scale screening for tuberculosis. Of the estimated 824,000 TB patients, according to him, only 49 percent are receiving treatment. “This means that there are still around 500 thousand patients who have not received treatment and are at risk of becoming a source of transmission,” said Didik in Jakarta on Tuesday, March 22, 2022.
Didik reminded the importance of rapid treatment when there are findings of TB cases and patients undergo treatment until completion. “This is one of the most important efforts in deciding the transmission of tuberculosis in the community,” he said. The Ministry of Health, he continued, will check 500 thousand cases that have not been found earlier.
How to check with X-Ray Artificial Intelligence equipment that is able to provide TB diagnosis results more quickly and efficiently. There is also a method bi-directional testing for diabetics to get tuberculosis treatment as early as possible. Currently, the government is seeking to procure these tools.
With these checks, Didik hopes that by 2030 Indonesia will really be able to control the disease tuberculosis. As many as 91 percent of TB cases in Indonesia are pulmonary tuberculosis which has the potential to be transmitted to people around the patient. The highest case finding and treatment for tuberculosis were Banten, Gorontalo, DKI Jakarta, North Sulawesi, and West Sulawesi.
Meanwhile, the areas with the most TB cases are in Jakarta, West Java, East Java, and Central Java. “TBC is usually found in dense, slum areas, and areas where the application of clean and healthy living behavior or PHBS is low,” he said.
Early symptoms of TB can include coughing because it attacks the respiratory tract and organs, coughing up phlegm for two to three weeks or more, shortness of breath, chest pain, and weakness. Tuberculosis patients also have low appetite, lose weight, and sweat at night even though they are not doing any activities.
TB Substance Coordinator, Directorate of Infectious Disease Prevention and Control, Ministry of Health, Tiffany Tiara Pakasi said tuberculosis checking was done by examining people who were in close contact with the patient. How, through questions and examinations using tuberculin tests on the skin or examination through blood.
In the tuberculin test, a small amount of a protein containing the TB bacteria will be injected into the skin under the arm. The skin that was injected was then examined after 48 to 72 hours. If the result is positive, then the person has been infected with TB bacteria.
One of the obstacles in implementing TB screening, according to Tiara, is the public’s reluctance to undergo the screening. “We need education so that we consciously and voluntarily check ourselves to find out whether we are infected with TB or not,” he said.
Tuberculosis patients do not take enough medication once. According to Tiara, TB patients take medicine for at least three months regularly once a week. There is also a treatment process for six months by taking medication every day.
Also read:
Commemoration of World Tuberculosis Day, History of TB Since 140 Years Ago
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