This pandemic requires us to remain strong in the face of itJakarta (ANTARA) - The Indonesian government is working earnestly to control the COVID-19 pandemic, which has had the country in its grip for the last year and a half, Vice President Ma'ruf Amin has said.
"The government is working earnestly to control the COVID-19 pandemic, starting from calling for and enforcing the implementation of the 3M (wearing mask, physical distancing, washing hands), increasing the 3T (tracing, tracking, treatment), and accelerating the implementation of vaccinations," he remarked, while giving directions at the 2021 National Coordination Meeting for the Acceleration of Prevention of Growth Failure in Children, held virtually on Monday.
The COVID-19 pandemic is a test for Indonesia because it has a wide impact -- not only in the health sector, but also in the social and economic sectors of the community, the Vice President said.
"This pandemic requires us to remain strong in the face of it. As a nation, we are struggling together to face the test," he said.
A number of government work programs have also experienced obstacles in their implementation due to the COVID-19 pandemic, especially service activities that require direct interaction with the community, Amin observed.
"The budget allocation and health services are also focused on efforts to overcome COVID-19," he said.
Referring to the program for reducing stunting in children, he said he hoped that the target achieved can be maintained even in the midst of the pandemic.
Indonesia managed to reduce the stunting rate from 37.2 percent in 2013 to 27.7 percent in 2019, he noted.
"The COVID-19 pandemic is a challenge for efforts to accelerate stunting reduction. The achievements that have been good for the past seven years must continue to be maintained to achieve the 14-percent target by the end of 2024," he said.
Earlier the same day, Health Minister Budi Gunadi Sadikin said he is optimistic that Indonesia's stunting prevalence rate would reduce to 14 percent by 2024 through evidence-based and intensive intervention.
"Intensive efforts will be taken to accelerate the reduction in stunting prevalence in Indonesia until the stunting prevalence rate in our country reaches a negligible level," Sadikin said in his opening remarks at the national coordination meeting on stunting prevention, broadcast by the Vice President's Secretariat on Monday.
The interventions to reduce stunting rate will be aimed at toddlers, teenagers, future brides and grooms, and pregnant and breastfeeding mothers, he added.
"Our program will focus on provision of sufficient nutrition and healthcare services, implemented in stages from the local healthcare center to hospitals, with assured support from stakeholders," the minister stated.
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Translator: Fransiska, Azis Kurmala
Editor: Sri Haryati
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