UNAIR NEWS – As a campus that has a great reputation in the field of health, Universitas Airlangga once again gained the trust to contribute in handling various health problems in order to establish a Center of Excellence for Tuberculosis.
Located at Room 303 Kahuripan Campus C UNAIR on Friday, January 11. Center of Excellence discussion was attended by both parties from Ministry of Health and UNAIR. After the meeting, Dr. Imran Pambudi, MPHM., as Head of Subdirectorate of Tuberculosis Ministry of Health Indonesia said this collaboration was based on major tuberculosis (TB) problem in Indonesia. He explained that Indonesia became the third country with the highest number of TBs in the world.
“There are around 842,000 per year. For this reason, this collaboration was one of the efforts that must be made to reduce TB rates in Indonesia, “he said.
FK UNAIR alumnus also explained that TB cases also had a high economic impact. Infectious TB patients have a 50% chance of losing their jobs.
“Because employers doesn’t want to hire TB patient status,” he added.
Regarding to collaboration with UNAIR, Dr. Imran emphasized that TB cannot be solved only by medical team. But it needs collaboration with the campus that has a variety of scientific disciplines.
“In UNAIR, there are several scientific fields. So I hope it can carry out this collaboration. In the future, we also want UNAIR to become a part of Center of Excellence for TB, “he said.
Dr. Imran said that Center of Excellence for TB will be development center, training, and become a center that provides advocacy to other parties and handling TB properly. In addition, Center of Excellence for TB in the future could provide an option for government policies to address TB problems in Indonesia.
“At least, April on this year, it can be launched. Hopefully, the government will get an input for new policy. In other cases, we want UNAIR’s contribution at national stage can be stronger, “he explained.
Meanwhile, Vice Dean III of FK UNAIR Prof. Dr. Ni Made Mertaniasih, Dr., MS., Sp.MK (K)., on the same occasion said that UNAIR gladly received the idea. He added, considering that UNAIR has a lot of great quality human resources to handle TB cases that are quite high in Indonesia.
“In the future, Center of Excellence for TB will have plan, target and various outcomes that can be useful for government interests and community,” he said.
Author: Nuri Hermawan
