Presidential Regulation No. 72 of 2021 on expediting stunting reduction will bolster the implementation of stunting audits on a broader scale, the National Population and Family Planning Agency (BKKBN) has said.
“In accordance with Presidential Regulation No. 72 of 2021, stunting case audit is one of the priority activities within the national action plan,” BKKBN Head Hasto Wardoyo said in a statement issued on Wednesday.
The regulation requires the agency, which is leading the implementation of efforts to reduce stunting prevalence at the national level, to bring the national stunting rate to 14 percent by 2024.
“In its implementation, the utilized audit for finding stunting cases is maternal prenatal audit that aims to prevent maternal or infant death cases by investigating the primary cause,” Wardoyo explained.
The audit is undertaken by a number of experts, such as doctors from related fields, spread across districts or cities who delve into difficult stunting cases.
The audit team also identifies the risk of stunting in certain target groups. It then coordinates with doctors to record the data immediately and help the target groups obtain recommendations from experts, Wardoyo informed.
To optimize the expansion of stunting case audits, all parties are expected to actively analyze specific or sensitive interventions so that all cases can be resolved.
He then cited the example of an infant, born with a body length of less than 48 centimeters, who does not show signs of growth, in accordance with age, after six months of exclusive breastfeeding.
“This falls under stunting audit,” he said.
Meanwhile, BKKBN’s Infant Family Guide Director Irma Ardiana said that the stunting case audit is based on four indicators that encompass all districts and cities.
The four indicators comprise the formation of stunting case audit teams, audit implementation, audit dissemination and stunting case audit follow-up evaluation, and family assistance management.
The audit, which serves to identify the risk of stunting in target groups, is focused on case prevention, case handling improvement, and case handling recommendation provision, she added.
Source: Antara News