"If we want to achieve a superior generation, we must carry out a mental revolution," he stressed in Jakarta on Friday.
He explained that currently, Indonesia is not only facing problems in terms of the quantity and quality of population, but is also challenged to address mental and emotional issues in people.
"Physical quality can be easily seen but we cannot see inside their soul and their body," Wardoyo added.
According to him, emotional disturbances have relatively increased, besides toxic people, toxic relationships, and toxic friendships causing conflict within families and increasing the divorce rate.
Currently, mental and emotional problems have increased by 9.8 percent, contributing to rampant drug abuse. Therefore, Wardoyo said, mental problems must become a common concern.
"The Grand Design for Population Development (GDPK), which discusses quantity, such as property and demographics, is still very tangible and shallow. However, underneath it all, there are unmeasurable and invisible things that need attention, such as the provision of a psychiatric ward and providing special psychiatric services at regional hospitals," he added.
Therefore, he said that addressing the population profile cannot only be seen from the viewpoint of demographics or quantity, but also from the quality side, including paying attention to mental problems.
"I hope that population mapping can be done not only in terms of quantity, but quality as well," he suggested.
For example, when the World Bank released the Human Development Index, it was translated into human resources' ability and divided into three sections, namely high-skilled, medium-skilled, and low-skilled.
"This is a form of mapping that prioritizes quality objectively and can be measured easily. I really hope that these studies can refer to something contextual to current needs," he said.
Furthermore, even though the stunting rate in several regions has mostly decreased, Wardoyo stated that the local government and all stakeholders still need to formulate a strategy to deal with the other intangible challenges.
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Translator: Lintang Budiyanti P, Resinta S
Editor: Rahmad Nasution
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