Jakarta – An estimated 140,000 out of 583,000 current tuberculosis sufferers in Indonesia die every year compared to 2 million worldwide, Sri Astuti Suparmanto, the Health Ministry's acting director general for contagious disease control and environmental health, said here on Friday.

"The number of TB sufferers in Indonesia has reached 583,000 a year and 262,000 of them have positive saliva capable of spreading the disease to other people," Sri told Antara news agency.

The World Health Organization (WHO) estimates the number of TB sufferers worldwide at 8 million.

The high mortality rate of TB sufferers in Indonesia is closely linked to the fact that they are reluctant to go to health centers, she said.

Sri said the government had made anti-TB drugs in every health service center available to TB sufferers free of charge. "By taking the drugs for six consecutive months, through the so-called "DOTS" (Directly, Observed Treatment, Short-Course) program, TB sufferers will recover from their disease," she said.