MBG Incident In West Bandung: 345 Students Poisoned

Illustration of free nutritious food (ANTARA)

BANDUNG The local and central governments pay serious attention to the mass poisoning incident that befell hundreds of students after eating food from the Free Nutrition Food (MBG) program in Cisarua District, West Bandung Regency (KBB), West Java. As of Wednesday, October 15 afternoon, 345 people were recorded as victims.

The Coordinator of the Cisarua SMPN 1 Command Post, Aep Kunaefi, explained that the handling was continuously carried out intensively. "The total from yesterday was 345 students. Of that number, 285 students have recovered, while the rest are still being treated," he said.

The victim was originally a student of SMPN 1 Cisarua, but the number increased along with reports from other schools such as Garuda Elementary School, Barukai Elementary School, and Cisarua Vocational School 1. Several teachers were also affected.

Lembang Hospital is the main referral hospital, while Cibabat Hospital, Adventt Hospital, and Dustira Cimahi Hospital also help deal with victims. Medical teams from various health facilities continue to record and provide care.

The local government through the West Bandung Health Office together with the Ministry of Health moved quickly to investigate the cause of poisoning. Food samples have been sent to the West Java Regional Health Laboratory (Labkesda) for laboratory tests.

"The government will not remain silent. Our main focus is to ensure all victims receive the best care and find the exact cause of this incident," said one health worker at the location.

This incident became national attention because it involved the implementation of the MBG program, one of the government's priority programs under the leadership of Prabowo Subianto. The government is committed to conducting a thorough evaluation, including monitoring the distribution and standards of food safety.

"The MBG program must continue to run, but with a stricter monitoring system so that similar incidents do not happen again," said Aep.