Minister of Health Terawan Presented a Concern Towards Stunting at UMM Graduation Ceremony

Author : Humas | Sunday, March 01, 2020 06:02 WIB
Minister of Health Republic of Indonesia Letjen TNI (Purn) Dr. dr. Terawan Agus Putranto, Sp. Rad. (K) RI. (Photo: Rino/PR UMM)

The World Bank issued a new measurement to replace the Human Development Index called the Human Capital Index, which is a measure of a country's investment for its human development capital. This measurement is used as a determination of the development status of a country.

There are three main pillars of the next generation of human capital, where health is one of the pillars that assess whether there is stunting, whether children finish school in good health, and are ready for the next level of education and / or work. For this reason, in order to realize Indonesia into the category of developed countries, the issue of stunting is a priority.

This was conveyed by the Minister of Health of the Republic of Indonesia Lt. Gen. TNI (Ret) Dr. dr. Terawan Agus Putranto, Sp. Rad. (K) RI. when giving a scientific speech at the graduation ceremony of the University of Muhammadiyah Malang (UMM) period I 2020, Saturday (29/2). He explained the speech entitled "Realizing Advanced Indonesia through the Acceleration of Declining Stunting" in front of 977 graduates.

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Furthermore, Terawan conveyed, stunting had an impact on the level of intelligence, vulnerability to disease, reduced productivity, the impact on the future hampered economic growth, and increased poverty and inequality. The level of intelligence of Indonesian children is in the 64th lowest out of 65 countries.

Terawan continued, from the measurement of Indonesia's HCI numbers currently is 0.53. A value of 0.53 means, based on educational attainment and current health status, it is estimated that Indonesian children born at this time 18 years later can only reach 53% of their maximum potential productivity. Currently, HCI Indonesia is ranked 87 out of 157 countries in the world.

Stunting itself is a condition of developmental failure in children under five due to chronic malnutrition, so the child is shorter for his age. Malnutrition occurs since the baby was inside the womb and in early life after birth but only appears after the child is 2 years old.

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"Malnutrition is caused not only by food problems, but also by disease infections, both infectious and non-communicable, then poor sanitation, availability of adequate drinking water, and family care patterns," said Terawan who on that occasion was also confirmed as one of the members of Muhammadiyah family.

Stunting prevention activities must be carried out in the first thousand days of life starting from pregnant women to children aged 2 years which is the Golden Period, a very important period in the growth and development of infants. "With proper handling in the first 1000 days of life, a baby will be born, grow and develop optimally and will be away from nutritional disorders," said Terawan. (joh)

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