"The local government must also immediately propose anthropometric and ultrasound needs in each district and city to the Ministry of Health," BKKBN's Deputy for Family Welfare and Empowerment Nopian Andusti said in an official statement received here on Thursday.
At the “Online Roadshow for the Acceleration of Stunting Reduction and Elimination of Extreme Poverty in Districts/Cities throughout North Maluku Province” on Wednesday, he outlined several problems related to stunting reduction, namely limited budget, limited medical devices, and limited health workers at the district/city level.
However, Andusti said that the problem can be resolved by using village funds, as directed by the Coordinating Minister for Human Development and Culture, referring to the attachment to the Ministry of Villages, Development of Disadvantaged Regions, and Transmigration Regulation (Permendes) Number 8 of 2022 to be implemented properly.
He asked each region to immediately discuss their stunting problem with the Health Ministry to accelerate stunting reduction optimally.
In addition, he urged regional heads to avoid discrimination and corruption in stunting eradication.
He also appealed to local governments to optimally absorb the Special Allocation Fund (DAK), both physically and non-physically, to accelerate the handling of stunting.
As an example of good DAK absorption, he cited the realization of the 2022 DAK in North Maluku Province, which was included in the highest category, with the realization of physical DAK reaching 90.08 percent and non-physical DAK 95.75 percent.
The region received the award for the best Initiated Family Planning Operational Assistance Fund (BOKB) Realization Menu Executor in the 2022 Field Line.
However, Coordinating Minister for Human Development and Culture Muhadjir Effendy still asked the regional government in North Maluku to work harder by mobilizing human resources and utilizing natural resources.
With the prevalence of stunting in North Maluku reaching 26.1 percent, he asked local governments to work hard to achieve the national stunting prevalence target of 14 percent in 2024 and eradicate extreme poverty.
"This meeting was our chance to hear about innovations and problems that exist at the provincial and district/city levels so that we can help provide inputs or can follow up at the central level in solving these problems," he said.
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Translator: Hreeloita Dharma S, Resinta S
Editor: Rahmad Nasution
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