Indonesia Steps Up Fight Against TB: 2030 Elimination Goal & New Vaccine Hope
JAKARTA – Indonesia is intensifying its national effort to combat tuberculosis (TB) as the nation observes World TB Day on Tuesday, March 24, 2026. The country is implementing a series of strategic measures aimed at curbing infections, improving case detection rates, and accelerating progress toward its goal of eliminating TB by 2030.
TB remains a significant public health challenge for Indonesia, currently holding the second-highest TB burden globally, trailing only India. According to the Global TB Report 2024, an estimated 1.09 million people in Indonesia fall ill with TB annually, resulting in approximately 125,000 deaths – a rate of roughly 14 deaths per hour.
“The medicine exists and is incredibly effective, but the disease has never been fully resolved,” Indonesian Minister of Health Budi Gunadi Sadikin stated during a recent hearing before the House of Representatives. He emphasized the country’s commitment to tackling the high number of cases through coordinated national strategies and improvements to the health system.
Indonesia aims to identify and link one million TB patients to treatment within the next year, targeting a treatment success rate of 90 percent. This effort is guided by the newly developed National TB Strategic Plan 2025-2029, formulated with support from the World Health Organization (WHO). The plan focuses on assessing progress, identifying gaps in the system, and prioritizing actions to strengthen the national TB response, enhance case detection, improve treatment outcomes, and increase community engagement.
Regulatory and financing reforms are also underway to support TB elimination. A joint program review conducted by the WHO recommended updating the 2021 presidential regulation on TB to strengthen legal authority, secure sustainable funding, and improve coordination. The review also called for expanded screening programs, faster referrals, and reduced diagnostic delays to close the gap between estimated and reported cases.
Since mid-2025, Indonesia has been strengthening its surveillance and data systems as part of its anti-TB efforts. Health authorities are integrating the national TB Information System (SITB) into the broader Satu Sehat digital health platform to ensure more accurate and timely reporting across both public and private healthcare facilities. Improved data systems are expected to facilitate identify undiagnosed patients and allocate resources more effectively, particularly among vulnerable groups such as children and individuals living with HIV.
Officials acknowledge that underreporting and underdiagnosis remain significant challenges, with at least one in four TB cases previously going undetected. By enhancing surveillance and expanding digital integration, the Indonesian government aims to ensure that no patient is left untreated and to curb ongoing transmission within communities.
The country is also scaling up community-level interventions by strengthening village health systems, raising public awareness, and addressing upstream determinants of TB risk, including smoking, undernutrition, diabetes, and alcohol employ disorder. These community-based measures are considered crucial for preventing new infections and ensuring treatment adherence.
In addition to improving treatment and prevention, Indonesia is investing in innovation, particularly in vaccine development, and is preparing for the potential introduction of a TB vaccine by 2028 or 2029. The TB vaccine candidate M72/AS01E has entered phase 3 clinical trials in Indonesia, involving more than 2,000 participants nationwide. Completion of the trials is expected around 2028, potentially paving the way for broader implementation if proven safe and effective.
Health expert and Chair of the honorary board of the Indonesian Society of Respirology, Tjandra Yoga Aditama, stated that the new vaccine is designed to prevent tuberculosis in adults and could potentially replace the existing BCG vaccine, while also serving as a booster to enhance its protective effect. “The new vaccine is also expected to function as a form of immunotherapy or adjuvant treatment, helping to shorten the duration of TB treatment,” he said.