Jakarta, Aug 16 (IANS): Indonesia is developing a new Tuberculosis (TB) vaccine to strengthen the fight against TB, which has claimed an average of 150,000 lives annually.
"Our new domestically produced vaccine is now entering the clinical trial stage. The renewal of the TB vaccine was due to the fact that the existing vaccine had been outdated," Indonesian Minister of Health Budi Gunadi Sadikin told a virtual press conference on Friday.
He said the vaccine's launch process would be expedited to reduce the national TB rate, as mandated by Indonesian President-elect Prabowo Subianto, who is set to take office this October.
TB remains a life-threatening disease worldwide. According to the World Health Organization 2023 Global Tuberculosis Report, TB cases in Indonesia reached 1,060,000, equivalent to 385 cases per 100,000 population.
The Southeast Asian country aims to reduce the rate to 297 per 100,000 people in 2024, and to 65 cases by 2030, Xinhua news agency reported.
"We want to focus on prevention, not just to treat sick people. This health strategy is cheaper and will bring a better quality to people's lives. We want to keep our society healthy," Sadikin said.
Earlier this month, the Indonesian government launched a TB screening tool, the Portable X-Ray, to help detect TB patients and symptoms more quickly.