Hence, human resources improvement attempts must be carried out starting from the family.
Jakarta (ANTARA) - Head of the National Population and Family Planning Agency (BKKBN) Hasto Wardoyo has stressed that mental health improvements need to be highlighted for future generations.

"This issue must be addressed immediately. Thus, Indonesia can get out of the middle-income trap in 2045. Hence, attempts to improve human resources must be carried out starting from the family,” he said in a press release on Wednesday.

He addedd that family development is the foundation for achieving national advancement.

In a meeting with the privately-owned University of Muhammadiyah Jakarta (UMJ) at the BKKBN headquarters, Jakarta, on Tuesday (June 6, 2023), he highlighted that improving the quality of human resources cannot only be conducted by improving their physical health.

His staff noted that it is also necessary to pay attention to the mental health of the younger generation, as BKKBN recorded that 9.8 percent of Indonesian people suffered from mental disorders.

The agency also reported that seven out of 1,000 people are diagnosed as people with mental disorders (ODGJ).

Furthermore, a total of 5.1 percent of people in Indonesia were drug users and 4.1 percent of these were persons with disabilities or autism.

In addition, the divorce trend among Indonesian families continued to increase throughout the 2013-2018 period.

"The main cause of divorce was ego issues (between the partners)," the BKKBN head stated.

Furthermore, he said that his staff is optimistic that the national stunting prevalence rate, which currently reached 21.6 percent, would fall to 14 percent by 2024.

Hence, his staff continues to update the data on families in Indonesia by name and address every year.

On the occasion, Chancellor of the UMJ Ma'mun Murod Al-Barbasy said that malnutrition was not the only cause of stunting, which can also be caused by inadequate parenting styles, as well as an unsupported environment.

The issue encouraged his party to collaborate with the BKKBN to help alleviate stunting by implementing the stunting-themed student study service (KKN) programs, which will assign college students to collaborate with the Family Assistance Team (TPK).

The KKN, organized by UMJ, will begin to be implemented at the end of August 2023 in Pandeglang District (Banten Province), Cianjur District (West Java Province), Subang District (West Java Province), Bogor District (West Java Province), as well as the Greater Jakarta area.

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Translator: Hreeloita Shanti, Uyu Liman
Editor: Azis Kurmala
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