Government to ensure stunting decline in all regions: President Jokowi

Jakarta, The Gulf Observer: President Joko Widodo (Jokowi) has stated that the government will take action to ensure that the prevalence of stunting in all regions nationwide continues to decline, allowing the 2024 target to be achieved.

He made the statement during a visit to the Sarimulyo public health center in Seluma District, Bengkulu, on Friday to review stunting prevention measures and regular health checks for infants at the center, according to a press release from the Presidential Secretariat.

“Today, I have come to Seluma District in Bengkulu to ensure that all our children and infants are healthy. We also want to ensure that the stunting prevalence rate will decline every year. It will not vanish in the blink of an eye but will gradually decline,” he said.

Jokowi commended the efforts made to address stunting in Seluma district, which have helped reduce its prevalence in the region.

He also highlighted that regular health checks at public health centers are a good measure to ensure that children grow up healthy.

“The health checks are to ensure that all of our children will be healthy and have a bright future as advanced human resources,” he said.

The government is committed to allocating a sufficient budget to ensure that the national stunting rate dips below 14 percent by 2024, he added.

“Because we target the stunting prevalence rate to decline below 14 percent next year in 2024, we will always increase the budget because we are keen to achieve the target,” he said.

The head of state also affirmed that the government will regularly monitor and examine stunting reduction in every region to control the overall stunting prevalence.

“We will check it every two weeks and a month, and from there, we can see which regions have a high or successfully lower stunting rate. We will always control the effort through such measures,” he explained.