Manpower Minister Ida Fauziyah has invited all stakeholders in the employment sector to actively take part in curbing tuberculosis (TB) transmission in the workplace as Indonesia still has a high number of TB cases.
“To reduce TB cases in Indonesia, the active participation of all parties is required, both the public and the private sector players,” she said at a talk show entitled “Eradicate Tuberculosis at Workplace” on Thursday.
She stated that her party will continue to encourage the reduction of TB cases in the workplace.
One of the measures to achieve this has been the issuance of the Manpower Minister’s Regulation Number 13 of 2022 concerning TB control in the workplace as a follow-up to the amendment to Presidential Regulation (Perpres) Number 67 of 2021 concerning TB control.
The stipulation of the ministerial regulation is aimed at helping realize the government’s target of eliminating TB cases in the country by 2030.
The World Health Organization’s (WHO’s) Global Report 2021 lists Indonesia among the top five countries with the largest number of TB cases in the world.
Further, there are many TB cases that may not get recorded either because the patients do not report their illness to healthcare facilities or they are not aware that they are infected with TB, the minister noted.
“It means that the awareness to report (the patients’ condition), as a part of the prevention (of TB transmission), is still very low. Hence, the government has realized that it is not an easy job (to eradicate TB),” she said.
Considering the high number of TB cases in the workplace, the Manpower Ministry has made TB eradication in the workplace one of the main issues that will be raised during the 2023 National Work Safety and Health (K3) Month.
The National K3 Month is observed every January 12 to February 12.
Earlier, at the “2023 TBC Outlook Meeting” here on Wednesday, director of communicable disease prevention and control at the Health Ministry, Imran Pambudi, said that there are four health-related matters that may affect TB elimination in Indonesia.
Quoting a journal published by the Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU), he outlined four things that are likely to affect the handling of tuberculosis around the world, including Indonesia, such as absolute health spending, which will decrease in 2023 due to global economic turmoil.
Source: Antara News