Typhoid Fever Control Program in Indonesia: Challenges and Opportunities

Typhoid fever (hereinafter referred to as typhoid) is a communicable disease with a heavy public health burden estimated at 22 million cases per year globally resulting in 216,000 to 600,000 deaths annually. In Indonesia, typhoid should receive serious attention from various parties as it is endemic. The purpose of this study is to review the typhoid control program in Indonesia as well as the challenges and opportunities in the implementation of the program. The method used is review of literature and documents related to the study obtained from National Institute of Health Research and Development library, as well as Directorate General of Disease Control and Environmental Health, and the google search results with the keywords "demam tifoid", "typhoid fever", "program pengendalian demam tifoid", and "typhoid fever control program". Overall, we collected 31 articles and documents relevant to the study topic. The study found that the typhoid control program has not been implemented optimally in Indonesia with many outstanding challenges such as lack of financing the control program as well as the increasing cases of carriers or relapse and resistance. To strengthen the typhoid control program and reduce the typhoid morbidity, there is a need to intensify advocacy, improve cooperation across programs and sectors particularly on access to clean water, the role of travel agents in typhoid vaccination for travelers, study of the effectiveness of typhoid vaccination in control program for adding the vaccine to a national immunization program, prevention of carriers or relapse and resistance, as well as financing the control program in provinces and districts/cities.