JAKARTA – Today, the United States Government through the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) and BD (Becton, Dickinson and Company), a U.S.-based global medical technology company, formalized a new partnership to support Indonesia in eliminating tuberculosis (TB) through its National Tuberculosis Program.
With an estimated 842,000 new cases each year and 294 deaths every day, Indonesia bears the third highest TB burden worldwide. With only 9 percent of drug-resistant cases diagnosed, TB is becoming increasingly difficult to manage. The USAID and BD partnership is designed to strengthen the ability of the Ministry of Health’s laboratory systems to diagnose and monitor patients on TB treatments. It will work to develop innovative solutions to strengthen Indonesia’s case detection, particularly for drug-resistant TB strains.
“Fighting TB with our Indonesian partners is one of our top priorities. Our new approach, the USAID Global Accelerator to End TB, catalyzes investment from private sector partners like BD so that countries around the world, including Indonesia, can stop the spread of TB– to benefit all people, regardless of nationality,” said USAID Mission Director Erin E. McKee.
Renuka Gadde, Vice President of BD Global Health, said: “With this partnership, BD is able to bring its advanced capabilities and expertise in phenotypic testing to a population that needs it most. We see an opportunity to strengthen the lab eco system in terms of quality assurance, specimen referral processes and establishing systems for data capture. We look forward to a meaningful partnership with USAID Indonesia and the National TB Program of Indonesia as we collectively address the challenges associated with multi-drug resistant infections.”
Complementary to the National Tuberculosis Program, the BD and USAID partnership advances Indonesia’s self-reliance in TB detection and treatment by leveraging the private sector’s expertise and commitment to sustainable, effective TB solutions. This is just one of the U.S. Embassy’s health sector initiatives in Indonesia, which demonstrates the breadth of engagement under the U.S.-Indonesia Strategic Partnership.
ABOUT USAID
USAID is the world’s premier international development agency and a catalytic actor driving development results. Our work advances U.S. national security and economic prosperity, demonstrates American generosity, and supports self-reliance and resilience. We have collaborated with Indonesia on tuberculosis elimination for 20 years, directly benefiting 700,000 Indonesians.
ABOUT BD
BD is one of the largest global medical technology companies in the world and is advancing the world of health by improving medical discovery, diagnostics and the delivery of care. The company supports the heroes on the frontlines of health care by developing innovative technology, services and solutions that help advance both clinical therapy for patients and clinical process for health care providers. BD and its 65,000 employees have a passion and commitment to help enhance the safety and efficiency of clinicians’ care delivery process, enable laboratory scientists to accurately detect disease and advance researchers’ capabilities to develop the next generation of diagnostics and therapeutics. BD has a presence in virtually every country and partners with organizations around the world to address some of the most challenging global health issues. By working in close collaboration with customers, BD can help enhance outcomes, lower costs, increase efficiencies, improve safety and expand access to health care. For more information on BD, please visit bd.com.
For more information on USAID, visit http://indonesia.usaid.gov/ or contact USAID Communications Officer Swiny Andina at +62 (21) 5083-1000 or sandina@usaid.gov. For more information on BD, contact Kartik Sharma, Associate Director – BD Global Health (India & SE Asia) at kartik.sharma@bd.com.
