Indonesia Intensifies TB Control Efforts With New Strategic Plan

Indonesia, home to the world’s second-highest tuberculosis burden after India, is intensifying efforts to curb the disease.

Each year, the country records an estimated 1.09 million TB cases and 125,000 deaths, equivalent to 14 deaths every hour, according to the Global TB Report 2024.

Health Minister Budi Gunadi Sadikin said, “The medicine exists and works well, but TB remains unresolved.”

He outlined a plan to identify and treat one million patients within a year, aiming for a 90 per cent success rate.

Central to Indonesia’s fight is the National TB Strategic Plan 2025–2029, developed with WHO support, which addresses gaps, strengthens case detection, improves treatment outcomes, and boosts community engagement.

Regulatory and financing reforms update the 2021 presidential TB regulation, secure funding, expand screening, speed up referrals, and reduce diagnostic delays.

Since mid-2025, authorities have integrated the TB Information System (SITB) into the Satu Sehat digital platform to track cases and allocate resources, particularly for vulnerable groups such as children and people with HIV.

The government is scaling up community interventions through stronger village health systems, awareness campaigns, and tackling smoking, undernutrition, diabetes, and alcohol use, all key TB risk factors.

Indonesia is investing in vaccine development, preparing for the potential introduction of a TB vaccine by 2028–2029.

The M72/AS01E candidate has entered phase 3 trials involving over 2,000 participants nationwide.

Health expert Tjandra Yoga Aditama noted the vaccine could prevent TB in adults, boost the protective effect of the existing BCG vaccine, and function as adjuvant therapy to shorten treatment duration.

Officials said these innovations, combined with strategic reforms and strengthened community health systems, are central to Indonesia’s ambitious goal of eliminating tuberculosis by 2030.

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