Jakarta (VNA) – Indonesia plans to run clinical trials of several vaccines to fight surging cases of tuberculosis (TB) this year, with concerns the disease might affect the country's economic growth.
At a meeting between the cabinet and leaders of localities on June 10, Indonesian Minister of Health Budi Gunadi Sadikin said Indonesia plans to conduct a trial of TB vaccine developed by global pharmaceutical company GlaxoSmithKline(GSK.L) and opens new tab in July, involving 2,500 people. The vaccine development is funded by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.
A clinical trial for a vaccine made by China's CanSino Biologics(6185.HK), opens new tab is also expected this year, Budi said.
According to the minister, Indonesia aims to lower its mortality rate from TB by 80% to only six deaths per 100,000 lives by 2030.
Minister of Human Development Muhadjir Effendy said that 75% of the patients are in the productive age group and 45% of all patients do not work, raising concerns that the spread of the disease is hurting economic activity.
Minister of Home Affairs Tito Karnavian ordered provincial leaders to set up task forces to detect TB infections.
Indonesia has seen TB cases spike during the past few years. Its health ministry estimated there were over 1 million cases in 2023, compared to around 820,000 in 2020.
In 2022, deaths from TB in Indonesia reached around 134,000, the second highest in the world after India./.
