On the 1st of April, 2017, a significant milestone in KNCV Tuberculosis Foundation’s 114 year history will take place. This day will see the launch of ‘Yayasan KNCV Indonesia’, the first independent local NGO building on KNCV’s past work and experience in Indonesia and around the world. The legally unrelated local NGO has signed a partnership agreement with KNCV in The Netherlands, to be able to operate within the larger KNCV network.
Based on KNCV’s principals of producing sustainable local solutions and realizing effective capacity building, the organization was founded by three Indonesian women, passionate about fighting tuberculosis: Ms. Ulli, a former MDR patient and chair of one of the first Indonesian Patient Support Groups, Ms. Tutti, who worked with KNCV as one of the initiators of hospital DOTS linkage in Indonesia, and Ms. Harini, who dedicated her life to TB laboratory network development.
The organization will be led by KNCV Indonesia’s current Technical Director John Sugiharto, a dedicated professional in the field who has been working in Indonesian TB control for over a decade.
Jhon Sugiharto, Director of the Yayasan KNCV Indonesia:
“our dream is to eventually support all provinces, to be a source of expertise to people. As the Yayasan KNCV Indonesia we are much more likely to be able to help, provide advice and strengthen civil society and local Patient Support Groups, as well as have a big role in advocacy about TB in Indonesia.”
The organization’s official mission is the ‘Elimination of tuberculosis and related diseases in Indonesia through the development and implementation of effective, efficient and sustainable approaches’. In a country with one of the highest National TB burden in the world, the Yayasan KNCV Indonesia is uniquely positioned to provide solutions tailored to the local context and utilize international partnerships, while building on more than a century of KNCV experience fighting TB all over the world.