Health minister pushes TB vaccine, aims for elimination by 2030

Jakarta (ANTARA) - Indonesian Health Minister Budi Gunadi Sadikin underscored the importance of vaccine funding and intensifying active case findings to speed up tuberculosis (TB) elimination by 2030 at the 38th StopTB Partnership Board Meeting in Abuja, Nigeria.

Innovation and concrete steps are necessary to stop the spread of TB, he said.

Sadikin, concurrently serving as co-chair of the TB Vaccines Accelerator Council with Brazilian Health Minister Nísia Trindade Lima, called for investment support for TB vaccine mass production in 2028.

"The availability of a TB vaccine, like the COVID-19 vaccines, will be a game changer to end the disease that has been around for centuries," Sadikin noted in a statement issued on Monday.

As one of the priority initiators of the TB vaccine, he said that he is working to accelerate the development of a vaccine candidate that can be implemented globally in 2029.

He affirmed that this effort aligns with the mandate of the Stop TB Partnership Board to strengthen the voices of affected communities and ensure inclusive access to health services.

Sadikin also highlighted Indonesia's role as one of the clinical trial sites for the M72 TB vaccine, developed by GSK and the Gates Foundation.

At the 38th Stop TB Partnership Board Meeting on December 13-14, Sadikin was a keynote speaker discussing the importance of funding for TB control and vaccine development as a global collective step towards eliminating TB by 2030.

The forum reaffirmed its commitment to ending TB as part of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) target by 2030.

Moreover, members discussed the importance of providing adequate nutrition for household contacts to prevent TB incidence. The forum then agreed to take steps to end the stigma that has been a significant barrier to accessing TB services.

The meeting lauded Indonesia's leadership in handling TB through efforts such as increasing domestic funding allocations for TB and the target of active case-finding of one million cases by 2025.

A report from the Global Fund for TB, AIDS, and Malaria also recorded Indonesia's effectiveness in utilizing global funds for TB treatment.

Apart from attending the meeting, Sadikin held bilateral discussions with the health ministers of South Africa, the Philippines, and Nigeria. He also engaged with civil society organizations, the Gates Foundation, the Global Fund, and USAID.

In a meeting with the Nigerian health minister, the two parties agreed to provide access to vaccines produced in Indonesia and transfer technology for vaccine distribution management by Indonesia's state-owned pharma Bio Farma.

Nigerian authorities plan to visit Indonesia in the first quarter of 2025 to observe vaccine production facilities.