Coordinating Minister For Human Development And Culture Asks Local Governments To Make Innovations To Suppress Stunting Cases

Coordinating Minister For Human Development And Culture Muhadjir Effendy (ANTARA)

Coordinating Minister for Human Development and Culture (Menko PMK) Muhadjir Effendy emphasized the importance of innovation in local governments (Pemda) to support the accelerated stunting reduction program.

"Local governments need to implement a number of innovations to accelerate the reduction of stunting in their respective areas," he said, quoted by ANATRA, Friday, March 10.

He added that currently there are various innovations that have been carried out in the regions, for example the development of applications for early detection of stunting to the provision of ultrasonographic tools (USG) at the puskesmas and standard measuring tools to monitor the growth of babies in posyandu.

In addition, he said, other innovations are training for officers or health cadres in the field to the Foster Father's program to support stunting prevention programs.

"One example is Mr. Asuh's program which is implemented in three regencies/cities in Riau Province, namely Pekanbaru City, Kampar Regency, and Bengkalis Regency," he said.

According to the Coordinating Minister for Human Development and Culture, various innovations must continue to be developed so that the stunting prevalence reduction target can be achieved according to the set target.

Based on the results of the Indonesian Nutrition Status Survey (SSGI), stunting prevalence in Indonesia in 2022 will decrease to 21.6 percent from 24.4 percent in 2021.

"The government targets stunting prevalence to drop to 14 percent by 2024," said Muhadjir Effendy.

Meanwhile, Pekanbaru City Secretary Indra Pomi Nasution said the program was a collaboration program with the National Population and Family Planning Agency (BKKBN) in order to distribute aid to stunted children.

The program, he said, was carried out to improve the nutrition of children who have problems with their growth and development.

"Mr. Asuh's program involves various stakeholders, including the community, in order to provide nutritional intake assistance for children suffering from stunting," he said.