Antara News·Indonesia·Thursday, August 20, 2026 at 01:48 PM

Gov't steps up free health checks to detect tuberculosis cases

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Bayu Prasetyo

Kabupaten Tangerang (ANTARA) - The Ministry of Health is stepping up the implementation of its Free Health Check Program in various regions to improve tuberculosis (TB) screening in Indonesia.

"Last year, there were an estimated 1.09 million TB cases in Indonesia. Only 80 percent, or 867,000 cases, were detected. Through the CKG program, we can accelerate the screening of these cases," Deputy Minister of Health Benjamin Paulus Octavianus said in Tangerang on Thursday.

According to Octavianus, some TB cases remained undetected. This is reflected in data for 2025, which estimated 1.09 million TB cases, while only around 867,000 cases, or 80 percent, had been detected.

Nevertheless, the government has set a target of increasing TB case detection to 90 percent in 2026.

"This year, we are taking extraordinary measures, and we are targeting an increase to 90 percent if possible," he said.

He said people identified as having TB would immediately receive treatment. The measure is aimed at accelerating treatment while preventing transmission to others.

The government is also promoting TB preventive therapy for people who have close contacts with patients.

The national target for providing TB preventive therapy to household contacts in 2025 was 72 percent. However, several regions remained below the target.

Banten recorded the highest coverage among the regions, at 61 percent. It was followed by East Java at 46 percent and Central Java at 28 percent.

The lowest coverage was recorded in Highland Papua at zero percent, while North Sulawesi and Aceh each recorded only one percent.

He expressed hope that the media could help encourage people to take part in CKG to immediately identify the illness and get proper treatment to reduce TB cases.

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