"Infant mortality is dominated by infections that are currently at around 80 thousand deaths each year due to diarrhea caused by the rotavirus infection," Sadikin remarked at the 2022 Global Handwashing Day commemoration event held here on Monday.
According to the minister, the infection drains the infant's energy, calories, and nutrition, as all of them are used to cure the infection. As a result, they are not used for the infant's brain growth and result in stunting, he added.
To this end, the practice of washing hands with soap and community-based total sanitation is crucial to be implemented, as they are effective in reducing infections and mortality among children.
The Ministry of Health has integrated the behavior into the Primary Service Transformation Program that is promoted to the level of community health centers (puskesmas) and integrated health posts (posyandu).
Director of Environmental Health Improvement at the Directorate General of Disease Prevention and Control of the Ministry of Health, Anas Ma'ruf, stated that the commemoration of 2022 Global Handwashing Day is an important momentum to bolster collaboration with various parties.
"The important point of this commemoration is to strengthen the community's need for washing hands with soap, so that it becomes a culture of the community," he remarked.
This year, Global Handwashing Day, which is celebrated every October 15, was commemorated with the theme of "Unite for Universal Hand Hygiene." In Indonesia, the commemoration event was held with a sub-theme of "The Role of Women in Stunting Reduction through the Elimination of Open Defecation."
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Translator: Andi Firdaus, Raka Adji
Editor: Sri Haryati
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