A public-private partnership for TB control in Timika, Papua Province, Indonesia.

SETTING: A district-level tuberculosis (TB) control programme in Papua Province, Indonesia.

OBJECTIVE: To describe a successful partnership between the District Health Department, a private company and non-governmental health care providers.

METHODS: Routinely collected surveillance data were analysed. A conceptual model was constructed to describe TB control in the district. Data were compared with the National TB Control Programme (NTP) performance indicators.

RESULTS: Funding for the programme's TB clinic is provided by a private company (PT Freeport Indonesia). The NTP provides the policy framework, treatment guidelines and some supplies. TB clinic staff are included in training programmes and the TB laboratory in the provincial quality assurance system. TB clinic staff are responsible for diagnosis, treatment, default tracing, recording and reporting, health education and community mobilisation. The largest proportion of TB patient referrals came from the community hospital (41%). The TB notification rate (311/100000), TB-HIV (human immunodeficiency virus) co-infection (12%) and multidrug-resistant (MDR) TB (2%) are significantly higher in Mimika, but the treatment success rate for smear-positive patients (91%) is similar to Indonesian national figures.

CONCLUSIONS: For true progress in attaining the United Nations Millennium Development Goals for TB in Indonesia, innovative local solutions utilising public-private partnerships are essential. The Mimika model is one such solution that should be tested elsewhere.