"We are planning to add 5 (provinces); this is a proposal from the ministry, namely Papua, West Papua, West Sumatra, and East Kalimantan," deputy for human development and equal development policy support at the Secretariat of the Vice President, Suprayoga Hadi, said here on Thursday.
He made the statement after opening the Technical Coordination Meeting for Stunting Reduction Acceleration in 2023.
Hadi said that the fifth province is South Sulawesi, which has been proposed in consideration of it being a province outside Java that has the largest population, so it requires special attention.
"Therefore, it seems that the number of patients (prioritized provinces) will increase, not only 12 provinces, but 17 provinces that we will prioritize in 2024," he added.
Meanwhile, the deputy for the coordination of health quality improvement and population development at the Coordinating Ministry for Human Development and Culture, Satya Sananugraha, highlighted the need for special efforts to achieve the stunting prevalence target.
To this end, synergy and coordination of ministries, agencies, and relevant parties have been deemed necessary.
Stunting reduction is a priority program of the Indonesian government. The government is aiming to reduce stunting prevalence to 14 percent by 2024.
Indonesia's stunting prevalence declined by 2.8 percentage points to 21.6 percent in 2022 from 24.4 percent in 2021, as per the 2022 Indonesian Nutritional Status Survey (SSGI).
Currently, there are 12 provinces that are being prioritized for stunting handling, namely East Nusa Tenggara, West Sulawesi, West Nusa Tenggara, Aceh, West Kalimantan, Southeast Sulawesi, South Kalimantan, West Java, East Java, Central Java, North Sumatra, and Banten.
Related news: BKKBN targets reducing stunting prevalence to 17.8 percent by 2023-end
Related news: BKKBN promotes fish consumption to tackle stunting
Translator: Hana Dewi, Raka Adji
Editor: Tia Mutiasari
Copyright © ANTARA 2023
