Central Sulawesi Province, Republic of Indonesia.

To increase tuberculosis case notification and maintain high treatment success rates through community participation in a tuberculosis field programme.

Comparison of tuberculosis case notification and treatment results in a community based tuberculosis programme (CBTP), before and after introduction of the programme and between areas where the programme was and was not introduced.

During 1998, the CBTP was introduced in two of the four rural districts of the Central Sulawesi province, covering 224 (29%) of the 772 villages and 362700 (33%) of the 1109100 population in these districts. In the CBTP villages the notification rate of new smear-positive patients per 100000 population increased from 51 in 1996 and 48 in 1997 to 166 in 1998. In the 548 non-CBTP villages the rates were 62, 60 and 70, respectively. The sputum conversion rate at the end of the first 2 months of the treatment was over 85% in both the CBTP and the non-CBTP villages. In the CBTP villages the treatment success rate (cure and treatment completion) was 90.4%, 89.5% and 93.7% in 1996, 1997, and 1998. For the non-CBTP villages these rates were respectively 85.4%, 86.8% and 85.9%. In 1998 the sputum conversion and treatment success rates were significantly higher in the CBTP villages than in the non-CBTP villages.

Through community participation, the notification of new smear-smear positive patients increased substantially, while sputum conversion and treatment success rates remained high.