Stunting Handling In West Sulawesi Involves Community And Religious Leaders, Budget Telan Rp76 Billion

SULBAR - Religious leaders and community leaders were involved in handling stunting prevention programs in West Sulawesi Province (Sulbar) through a program.

"The program carried out by the West Sulawesi Health Office is a program to improve health services to prevent stunting," said Head of the West Sulawesi Health Service (Dinkes), Asran Masdi, quoting Antara, Wednesday, March 22.

He said the program was carried out by involving cross-sectors, namely religious leaders and community leaders as well as the TNI and Polri, as well as youth and women.

"Religious leaders and community leaders are given counseling and training in order to invite people to live a healthy life and consume good nutrition so as not to experience stunting," he said.

In addition, they were asked to convey a moral message to the public to prevent early marriage which was considered to trigger stunting. He said the program was implemented in 2022 and resumed in 2023.

"So that West Sulawesi is free from stunting, so that the program is carried out in collaboration involving many parties," he said.

With this program, it is considered a structured, systematic and massive breakthrough effort from the government to reduce stunting rates by implementing maternal and child nutritional health care programs, as well as overcoming infectious diseases.

Nursing health services for mothers and children are carried out through the rescue of the First 1,000 Days of Life (HPK), 1,000 HPK is the phase of life, which starts when the fetus is formed at 270 days of pregnancy, until the child is two years old or for 730 days.

"Improving of maternal and child nutritional health services, through the rescue of 1,000 HPK is very important to implement, so that chronic nutrition problems do not occur, good nutrition is very important to support the growth and development of children during 1,000 HPK," he said.

He said, to implement the program, the West Sulawesi General Allocation Fund (DAU) budget would be utilized in the amount of Rp. 76 billion.

Stunting in West Sulawesi, he said, the figure still reached 33.8 percent based on the results of the Nutrition Status Study (SDGI), with the highest stunting prevalence in Polman Regency reaching 36 percent, then Majene Regency reaching 35.7 percent.