World HIV/AIDS Day a reminder to intensify TB screening: Ministry

Jakarta (ANTARA) - Deputy Health Minister Dante Saksono Harbuwono emphasized that World HIV/AIDS Day is a reminder to intensify screening, including routine check-ups, to detect other concurrent diseases, such as tuberculosis (TB).

"The most common accompanying disease is tuberculosis. TB in HIV patients is likely to cause mortality," he remarked when met in Jakarta on Friday (November 29).

Quoted from the official website of the United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), TB is a deadly disease for people with HIV, as HIV weakens a person's immune system.

A weak immune system can activate the TB bacteria, namely Mycobacterium tuberculosis.

With routine TB checks on HIV patients, Harbuwono expressed hope that the disease would be identified quickly for early treatment.

This year's World HIV/AIDS Day, themed "Take the Rights Path," is a reminder for the government of the significance of focusing healthcare screening efforts on specific vulnerable populations.

"Moreover, we still have a low viral load coverage. Those who have been treated should undergo regular checks," he stated.

Earlier, the ministry's Director of Prevention and Control of Infectious Diseases, Ina Agustina Isturini, cited data from the HIV AIDS Information System (SIHA), wherein until September 2024, only 71 percent of people with HIV (PLHIV) knew their HIV status, 64 percent of PLHIV received antiretroviral therapy (ARV), and only 48 percent of PLHIV on treatment achieved viral suppression when tested.

To achieve the Three Zeros HIV/AIDS target by 2030, some 95 percent of PLHIV must be diagnosed, 95 percent of PLHIV must undergo treatment, and 95 percent of PLHIV under treatment must be virally suppressed.

To overcome HIV/AIDS, the three zeros targeted for achievement are zero new HIV infections, zero mortality due to HIV/AIDS, and zero discrimination against PLHIV.