Indonesia orders new one-month TB drug as it races to detect more cases in 2026

What is the background?

Indonesia is the world’s second-largest contributor to global tuberculosis infections after India, with more than 241,000 cases reported as of 3 May 2026. Tuberculosis treatment Indonesia efforts have intensified in 2026 as the government pushes to both detect more cases and treat them faster.

What happened?

Health Minister Budi Gunadi Sadikin confirmed Indonesia has placed an order for a new tuberculosis medication that could shorten the standard treatment regimen from six months to just one month, aiming to make Indonesia among the first countries to receive the drug once available. The announcement followed a June 2026 briefing with President Prabowo Subianto at Merdeka Palace, part of a wider push to accelerate Indonesia’s healthcare transformation.

Indonesia’s National Strategic Plan for Tuberculosis 2026-2030 built on findings from a Ministry of Health stakeholder consultation held in Jakarta in mid-2025, strengthening the evidence base for the country’s TB strategy with WHO support.

How did it happen?

This year’s innovations integrate TB screening directly into the Free Health Screening (CKG) programme, alongside a one-stop service model where screening, diagnosis, and treatment are all provided at a single puskesmas (community health centre) on the same day — removing the multiple separate visits that previously slowed diagnosis and treatment starts.

The government is also targeting the renovation of 8,000 homes for TB patients in high-caseload priority areas during 2026, with 5,453 renovations already proposed. Poor housing conditions — overcrowding and inadequate ventilation — are a documented driver of household TB transmission, so improving homes directly reduces the risk of a treated patient’s household members becoming newly infected.

Why does it matter?

A treatment regimen shortened from six months to one would be transformative for completion rates: TB’s current lengthy course is one of the main reasons patients discontinue treatment before it’s finished, which both risks relapse and drives drug-resistant strains. Indonesia securing early access to a drug that could fix this specific problem addresses the treatment’s biggest practical weakness.

Same-day, single-location screening and treatment removes a different barrier: patients who might not return for a second or third appointment across separate visits get diagnosed and started on treatment in one trip, at the community health centre already closest to home.

What were the key results?

• More than 241,000 TB cases reported in Indonesia as of 3 May 2026
• Indonesia is the world’s second-largest TB burden country after India
• New drug ordered that could shorten treatment from 6 months to 1 month
• National Strategic Plan for Tuberculosis 2026-2030 informed by WHO-supported evidence review
• TB screening now integrated into the Free Health Screening (CKG) programme
• One-stop same-day screening, diagnosis, and treatment model rolled out at puskesmas level
• 8,000 patient homes targeted for renovation in 2026; 5,453 already proposed

What happens next?

The Ministry of Health plans to secure and roll out the new one-month TB drug once it becomes available.

Puskesmas nationwide are expected to continue adopting the same-day screening, diagnosis, and treatment model.

The home renovation programme is expected to report progress toward its 8,000-house target through the rest of 2026.

Indonesia is expected to continue reporting case detection progress under its National Strategic Plan for Tuberculosis 2026-2030.