Malang City (malangkota.go.id) – Indonesia ranks second after India in the number of positive cases of tuberculosis (TB) which is 969 thousand cases and 93 thousand deaths per year. In eliminating positive TB cases, steps and joint actions from all parties are needed. The Malang City Health Office is also working with various foundations and TB care communities to increase the discovery of new cases in Malang City in order to provide faster treatment and break the chain of transmission.
Yayasan Bhanu Yasa Sejahtera (YABHYSA) as an institution that cares about TB eradication is implementing the activity of 'Community-Based TB Screening and Prevention with Chest X-Ray Artificial Intelligence (CXR AI)' in Malang City. Community-based TB screening and prevention activities are activities to bring screening services using Chest X-Ray Artificial Intelligence (CXR AI) closer to high-risk TB populations (high TB prevalence) or household contacts who have not come for examination and the TCM examination results are negative (-).
Head of Disease Prevention and Control Division of Malang City Health Office Meifta Eti Winindar, S.ST, MM said that this free screening activity is intended for high-risk groups for TB. "Currently, we are conducting X-ray examinations (using mobile X-Ray) for free. The goal is to increase the detection of TB infection cases early so that patients can be treated faster as an effort to break the chain of TB transmission," he said, Monday (16/10/2023).
Meifta said that in this activity, screening for non-communicable diseases was also carried out. It is known that the number of cases of hypertension, ISPA, and diabetes mellitus (DM) are the highest non-communicable diseases in Malang City. "We also conduct screening for hypertension, DM, cholesterol, and EKG (heart recording)," he continued.
The activity was carried out for six days on October 6, 7, 8 and 13, 14, 15, 2023 in various areas of Malang City, namely at the Malang City Health Office, Kedungkandang Village Office, UMM Faculty of Medicine, Ciptomulyo Village Office, Mulyorejo Village Office, and Bandungrejosari Village Office. The implementation of this activity also involved other communities and agencies such as the Hasna Medika Malang Heart Clinic, Tirta Medical Center, related villages and/or sub-districts, and health centers.
Meanwhile, Head of SSR YABHYSA Peduli TB Malang City Dra. Ruly Narulita, M.AP. said that the Community-Based TB Prevention Screening Chest X-Ray Artificial Intelligence (CXR AI) activity succeeded in increasing the enthusiasm of residents to care more about preventing TB.
"This Community-Based AI Chest X-Ray Screening Activity is expected to increase the findings of TB cases in Malang City so that later they can be followed up and given treatment and supervision until cured. Therefore, it is also hoped that this activity can increase public knowledge and awareness regarding infectious diseases such as TB and improve public health, especially in Malang City," he said. (ari/yon)
