TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - Member of House Commission IX, Irma Suryani Chaniago, has expressed her support for the tuberculosis (TB) vaccine trials in Indonesia, developed with support from Microsoft founder Bill Gates.
The plan was revealed by President Prabowo Subianto during a meeting with Bill Gates and a group of Indonesian business leaders at the Merdeka Palace in Jakarta on Wednesday, May 7, 2025.
Irma sees no reason to oppose the initiative, especially if the TB vaccine has already entered the clinical trial phase in 2024.
"In my opinion, if this vaccine has met the clinical trial requirements and been successful, why not?" she told Tempo on Thursday, May 8.
She stressed that tuberculosis remains a serious and contagious disease in Indonesia, and that public awareness of its symptoms and transmission remains low, making it difficult to manage.
"A vaccine is one of the solutions that can be taken," Irma said.
Irma also voiced confidence in the safety of the vaccine developed with Gates' support, adding that President Prabowo would not allow anything that could jeopardize public health.
"Moreover, someone like Bill Gates, would someone of his caliber risk his prestigious name for something that endangers human lives?" she said.
Separately, Tjandra Yoga Aditama, Chairman of the Honorary Council of the Indonesian Thoracic Doctor Association (PDPI), noted that the vaccine, known as M72/AS01E, is still in phase 3 of clinical trials.
Tjandra explained that Indonesia is part of a research network alongside other high TB-burden countries that has been involved in vaccine development for several years.
"Currently, the process of discovering this new vaccine is still in the phase 3 research, which is being conducted in five countries, namely South Africa, Kenya, Malawi, Zambia, and Indonesia, which are countries with a relatively large burden of TB cases. If this research phase is successful, it will proceed to the next phase," he said in a message to Tempo on Thursday.
Earlier, President Prabowo had welcomed the TB vaccine initiative, noting that tuberculosis kills nearly 100,000 people in Indonesia every year. He praised Gates’ commitment to helping Indonesia in the field of vaccination. Gates is also working on a malaria vaccine.
Eka Yudha contributed to the writing of this article.
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