Strong commitment needed to tackle stunting: MPR

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JAKARTA (ANTARA) – Deputy Speaker of the People’s Consultative Assembly Lestari Moerdijat stressed that continued efforts to address and prevent stunting require strong commitment from stakeholders.

“Indonesia’s ongoing efforts to address and prevent childhood stunting must be supported by strong political will from stakeholders at both the central and local levels,” she said in a written statement received on Tuesday.

She then cited a statement by Health Minister Budi Gunadi Sadikin, who said the nominal decrease in stunting prevalence in 2023 was due to the fact that several projects had not yet found a suitable implementation model, in addition to the increase in the number of new stunted children.

In 2023, Indonesia’s stunting prevalence fell by only 0.1 percentage point to 21.5% from 21.6% in 2022.

Murdijat questioned the planning of Indonesia’s programs to reduce childhood stunting and the seriousness with which stakeholders implemented them.

She said that when planning a stunting reduction programme, several options for appropriate implementation should be provided based on the surveys conducted.

She further said that the increase in new cases of stunting also shows that the country’s handling of stunting is not comprehensive.

She expressed hope that efforts to reduce childhood stunting as part of the journey to becoming a nation of excellence would make significant progress, as the health of children in every country would determine the resilience and competitiveness of the next generation.

Reducing stunting is a priority program of the Indonesian Government, which aims to reduce the prevalence of stunting to 14% by 2024.

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