Denpasar, Bali (ANTARA) - The head of the Bali Provincial Health Service I Nyoman Gede Anom has said that the service is targeting to reduce the province’s stunting rate to 7.71 percent in 2023.

"In 2021, our stunting rate was 10.9 percent, in 2022, our target was 9.28 percent, and the number showed 8.0 percent, but it has not been formalized yet. We hope we will be able to achieve 7.71 percent in 2023," Anom informed in Denpasar, Bali, on Tuesday.

He said he hopes that the service will reach the target to ensure that Bali remains the province with the lowest stunting rate in Indonesia.

"We are still working on the stunting reduction. From the health sector, we start by giving blood-added tablets to young and pregnant women. We also take care of the well-being of pregnant women by providing additional food and conducting routine health checks," Anom added.

Besides stunting reduction, traditional treatment programs launched at hospitals and health centers in 2021 will be further enhanced in 2023. By the end of 2022, the provincial government had provided such services at 10 government hospitals and 120 health centers throughout the island, he informed.

"Traditional medicine will be useful in the future. Besides medical tourism, there will be wellness tourism. People visiting Bali will not only enjoy the scenery but also carry out wellness tourism. That is quality tourism," he said.

Anom explained that his efforts to intensify traditional medicine services in 2023 will involve regular socialization and practice of services at Niti Mandala Renon Field, Denpasar, in collaboration with Gotra Pangusada Bali.

His party is also aiming to maintain COVID-19 handling and vaccination. The vaccination coverage in the province has so far reached 80 percent.

"For COVID-19, cases in Bali have been decreasing earlier than in other regions, which means it is already conducive because our booster (coverage) is the highest in Indonesia. The booster is important because we do not know what will happen in the future," he said.

In terms of development, in 2023, Bali is aiming to have an international standard hospital in Sanur Special Economic Zone (SEZ). However, Anom said the project is under the purview of the central government.

In 2022, the Bali Health Service implemented successful programs such as increasing the benefits of the Krama Bali Sejahtera Health Information System (KBS) application.

"In 2022, the application was available for 62 hospitals in Bali, while actually, we have 74 hospitals in Bali. Almost all of them are connected to the KBS application except for 2 new hospitals in Mambal Badung and Mas Ubud," Anom informed.

He said that the Healthcare and Social Security Agency (BPJS Kesehatan) is also covering all districts/cities, while earlier, there were 2 districts that were not covered by the services of the provincial government.

“Now, as long as you are registered as a Bali resident proven with your identity card, you can access free health service. The central government does not bear some of the BPJS Kesehatan recipients, so it is our responsibility as the regional government," he said.

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Translator: Ni Putu Putri M, Resinta S
Editor: Azis Kurmala
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