Project Description

Zero TB Yogyakarta

Search, Treat, and Prevent to eliminate Tuberculosis by 2030.

Zero to hero is genuinely what this project is about. In 2019, Zero TB Yogyakarta initiated a project to eliminate TB with a search-treat-prevent strategy in Yogyakarta city and Kulon Progo district. This project started with a small but passionate group of people trying to solve the TB challenges in their communities. Initiated in 2019, Zero TB Yogyakarta conducted a small TB screening in an Islamic boarding school. But now, just in a year, this project successfully screened 38,940 people resulting in 499 people diagnosed with TB.

For decades, TB has persisted as a significant health threat in Indonesia. Plenty of health programs prioritize TB – yet this disease still puts a huge health burden on this country. In assisting the government in achieving TB elimination in 2030, Zero TB Yogyakarta worked at the grassroots level, collaborating with the district health offices and Puskesmas.

Funding

Collaborators

Duration

2019 – present

Principal Investigator

Rina Triasih

The Zero TB Yogyakarta applies a search-treat-prevent strategy in addressing the persistent implementation problems of TB. They ambitiously search for people with TB through active case finding, contact investigation, and screening in high-risk populations. The active case finding uses interviews for TB symptoms and chest x-ray imaging. Later, the TB suspects undergo confirmatory laboratory tests for an accurate diagnosis.

Zero TB Yogyakarta mobile screening process

The second strategy is treating TB patients with the most effective treatment regimen. The Zero TB Yogyakarta advocate for the healthcare system to adopt the guideline provided by WHO and the Indonesian Ministry of Health. This project encourages TB preventive treatment (TPT) to prevent the activation of TB bacteria in infected people. The last strategy is the preventive action against TB. The Zero TB Yogyakarta collaborated with the grassroots communities – both Posyandu cadre and the youth – to actively engaged in educating their communities about TB.