NUMBER OF RI'S TUBERCULOSIS PATIENTS WORLD'S THIRD LARGEST

Jakarta, Oct. 28 (ANTARA) - The number of tuberculosis (TB) patients in Indonesia is the third largest in the world after China and India, according to a report of the World Health Organization (WHO).

"Given the high mortality rate of TB patients, we need to increase the awareness and knowledge of the public about the disease," Any Raputrawati, a spokesperson of Persahabatan Hospital, said here on Tuesday.

This year, Persahabatan Hospital alone has treated 15,600 patients of tuberculosis, she said.

The number was a significant increase from last year's 3,200 patients of TB, she said.

The TB treatment in Indonesia is applying a DTOS (Directly Observed Therapy, Short Course) strategy which was introduced for the first time in Indonesia in 1966, she said.

Indonesia ranks third on the list of 22 high-burden tuberculosis countries in the world.

According to the World Health Organization (WHO) Global TB Report 2006, there were 540,000 new TB cases and an estimated incidence rate of 110 new sputum smear-positive (SS+) cases per 100,000 people in 2004.

Indonesia has received foreign assistance including from the Netherlands and Canada, to help treat the infectious disease.***