"There are provinces with stunting prevalence above 30 percent. They need special attention and fundamental handling," Deputy for Human Development Policy Support and Development Equity of the Vice Presidential Secretariat Suprayoga Hadi stated on Tuesday.
The provinces in question are Central Papua, at 39.4 percent; East Nusa Tenggara, 37.9 percent; Papua Mountains, 37.3 percent; Southwest Papua, 31 percent; West Sulawesi, 30.3 percent; and Southeast Sulawesi, 30 percent.
Hence, he emphasized the important role of the family assistance team in the provinces to help and educate families at risk of stunting in a bid to ensure more effective handling of stunting reduction.
However, Hadi commended the decline in stunting over the past five years, where during the period from 2018 to 2023, Indonesia succeeded in reducing the stunting prevalence rate by 9.3 percent.
"This is a significant achievement and is expected to continue in the coming periods. We still need to reduce stunting by 14 percent next year," he remarked.
Based on the Indonesian Health Survey (SKI) of the Health Ministry, the stunting prevalence rate in 2023 was recorded at 21.5 percent.
"We are still awaiting the results of the 2024 Indonesian Nutritional Status Survey by the Ministry of Health in December," Hadi added.
Meanwhile, Deputy for Family Welfare and Family Empowerment of the National Population and Family Planning Agency (BKKBN) Nopian Andusti stated that the acceleration of stunting reduction is carried out in a holistic and integrative manner.
It is combined with a focus on quality through coordination, synergy, and synchronization between ministries and institutions along with all regional governments and stakeholders.
"Convergence is important because cross-sector collaboration and involvement of all parties are needed to synergize programs and activities to reach target families," Andusti remarked.
He stated that the government has carried out various programs and activities to overcome stunting.
In order to ensure the effectiveness of programs and activities, monitoring and evaluation have also been conducted by stakeholders from various sectors at the respective regional levels, he added.
"Stakeholders were also informed about achievements, challenges, and recommendations for improvements in assisting families to prevent and tackle stunting in the future," he remarked.
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Translator: Lintang Budiyanti P, Resinta Sulistiyandari
Editor: Rahmad Nasution
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