INAUGURATION OF PROFESSOR BACHTI ALISJAHBANA:EFFORTS TO IMPROVE ACCESS TO TUBERCULOSIS DIAGNOSIS FOR ELIMINATING TB IN INDONESIA

By: Dedy Hidayat, Adhella Menur

Congratulations to Prof. Bachti Alisjahbana, MD, SpPD-KPTI, PhD, FINASIM, on the formal inauguration of his professorship on July 24, 2024, at Universitas Padjadjaran in Bandung.

This inauguration recognizes Prof. Bachti’s extraordinary dedication and contributions in the fields of internal medicine and tropical infections, as well as his efforts to enhance access to diagnosis and eliminate tuberculosis (TB) in Indonesia. May this achievement continue to inspire and motivate further contributions to the health sector.

Prof. Bachti Alisjahbana, born in Bandung on December 6, 1963, is a well-known expert in internal medicine and tropical infections in Indonesia. He earned his medical degree from the Faculty of Medicine at Universitas Indonesia in 1990 and his specialization in internal medicine from the Faculty of Medicine at Universitas Padjadjaran in 1998. Prof. Bachti continued his education and received his PhD from Radboud University Medical Center in the Netherlands in 2007. Prof. Bachti has extensive experience in the health sector, including serving as the Head of Bokondini Health Center in Papua and as a staff member in the Department of Internal Medicine at Hasan Sadikin Hospital-FKUP. He also led the Infectious Diseases Study Center at UNPAD from 2014 to 2020 and currently serves as the Head of the Center for Infectious Disease Research (RC3ID) at Universitas Padjadjaran.

Prof. Bachti’s activities are not limited to the national level but extend internationally as well. He has served as the Chair of the TB Operational Research Group (TORG) and Secretary of the TB Ex-pert Committee (KOMLI TB) at the Ministry of Health. Additionally, he is a member of the Steering Committee of INA-RESPOND and a member of the Indonesian Academy of Sciences. His contributions to research and development in vaccines and diagnostics at the ASEAN Center for Research and Development of Vaccine Therapeutic and Diagnostic are significant. With more than 221 scientific publications indexed by Scopus and several intellectual property rights, Prof. Bachti continues to play an active role in global research and health.

In his speech at Universitas Padjadjaran, Prof. Bachti Alisjahbana emphasized the importance of efforts to improve TB diagnosis access for TB elimination in Indonesia. He explained that TB, caused by the Mycobacterium tuberculosis (MTB) bacteria, remains a significant disease burden in Indonesia, with around 1 million new cases and 140,000 deaths annually. Prof. Bachti highlighted that TB can be prevented and cured if diagnosed accurately and treated with a combination of anti-TB drugs. However, Indonesia still faces significant challenges in detecting and managing TB cases, influenced by various factors, including poverty, poor nutritional conditions, and limited access to healthcare services. He pointed out that 75% of TB patients initially seek treatment at private clinics, but MTB diagnosis tools such as Xpert MTB/RIF are often only available in public health services. This leads to delays in diagnosis up to 30-60 days and a broader potential for TB transmission. Prof. Bachti stressed the need to integrate private and public healthcare services to improve diagnosis access.

He presented research findings highlighting the effectiveness of active case finding through routine healthcare examinations, which can identify both symptomatic and asymptomatic TB cases. In his survey, primary healthcare using clinical examination, chest X-ray, and Xpert MTB/RIF identified 3.5% (136 out of 917) active TB cases and 1.1% (54 out of 4,865) subclinical TB cases. A cost analysis revealed that Indonesia would need at least 2.9 trillion rupiahs to diagnose the country’s estimated 1 million TB cases. With the national budget for overall TB management around 3 trillion rupiahs, it’s not surprising that the country continues to experience a gap in TB diagnosis.

He emphasized the need for further research and development of more effective and efficient diagnostic tools using non-sputum-based samples such as blood, saliva, tongue swabs, and urine. He also highlighted the importance of collaboration between the health and technology sectors to eliminate TB in Indonesia. His ongoing study, called EVIDENT, aims to examine and validate potential near and point-of-care testing (POCT) as-says for diagnosing TB. Prof. Bachti urged biotechnology and biomedical engineering experts to continue developing innovative solutions to support this effort.

Prof. Bachti Alisjahbana concluded his speech by thanking the various parties who helped him achieve his professorship. He also thanked INA-RESPOND (Indonesia Research Network for Infectious Diseases) for its significant contribution to much-needed research in Indonesia. He was grateful to dr. M. Karyana, dr. Herman Kosasih, and dr. Dewi Lokida, who represented the INA-RESPOND network. Prof. Bachti emphasized the importance of collaborative research in developing effective solutions to Indonesia’s urgent health issues.

This professorship inauguration is not only a personal achievement for Prof. Bachti but also a significant step forward in the collective effort to advance science and health in Indonesia.