Solok, West Sumatra (ANTARA) – Solok City, West Sumatra, has been selected to be a pilot project location of the knowledge-sharing program that is carried out under collaboration with the Health Ministry and the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA).Mayor of Solok Zul Elfian Umar here on Sunday said that eight countries, namely Cambodia, Kenya, Tajikistan, Timor Leste, Laos, Vietnam, Thailand, and Madagascar, sent their delegates to implement the program in Solok City. The program is themed “Empowering Family on Continuum of Care for Maternal, Newborn and Child Health Through Collaboration Across Sectors by Using Maternal and Child Health (MCH) Handbook”. “We fully support this activity to realize our common goal, namely suppressing maternal and infant mortality and reducing stunting prevalence,” Umar said. He hoped that all delegates and participants of the program who have come to Solok City could share their knowledge in order to improve maternal and children health services in the city. The knowledge-sharing program was launched by West Sumatra Governor Mahyeldi, Deputy Minister of Health Dante Saksono Harbuwono, and Chief Representative of JICA Indonesia, Takehiro Yasuion Monday (September 11). In 2020, the Health Ministry selected Solok City as a pilot project city for promoting the use of the MCH Handbook for Small Babies, as an additional source for the main MCH book. The MCH Handbook for Small Babies aims to provide information on health services and care for small infants with a birth weight of less than 2,500 grams or gestational age less than or equal to 37 weeks to help tackle infant mortality cases. MCH Handbook utilization is one of the top programs in Indonesia to prevent and early-detect nutritional and other health problems in mothers and children starting at the family level. The book is used to monitor and record mothers’ and children’s health and is a tool for information and communication between health workers and families.

Source: Antara News Agency