Health Ministry partners with PBNU for free check-ups, TB eradication

Indonesia's Ministry of Health (Kemenkes) and the executive board of Nahdlatul Ulama (PBNU), the country's largest Islamic organization, are enhancing their synergy to achieve key government health objectives. The partnership will concentrate on implementing free health check-up programs and speeding up efforts to combat tuberculosis (TBC).

This agreement was formalized during a meeting between the Chairman of PBNU, KH Yahya Cholil Staquf, and the Minister of Health, Budi Gunadi Sadikin, at the Ministry of Health's office in Jakarta. Beyond free health checks and TBC control, the collaboration will also address the health of students and Islamic boarding school attendees (santri). It aims to strengthen community-based health services and promote Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH) practices to improve the environmental quality of pesantren and prevent disease transmission.

Minister of Health Budi Gunadi Sadikin highlighted that the free health check-up program and the eradication of infectious diseases like TBC are top government priorities. He stressed that the success of these programs hinges on the support of community organizations with extensive reach down to the grassroots level. "It is very important to be able to cooperate with NU as the largest mass organization in Indonesia," Sadikin stated in a press release on Thursday.