South Kalimantan deploys 490 health workers to villages to handle stunting

Banjarbaru, South Kalimantan (ANTARA) - Provincial Government of South Kalimantan through the Health Agency has distributed as many as 490 health workers to villages in districts and cities to support stunting rate reduction program.

Head of the agency dr Diauddin in Banjarbaru on Friday said that the handling of stunting or impaired growth and development babies in the province is maximized, one of which by deploying hundreds of health workers to villages.

This is done to assure health wworkers to bolster the province's, district's and city's programs to reduce stunting.

Diauddin expounded that stunting handling in South Kalimantan begins from early stages, before the baby born by accompanying pregnant women.

"(We are striving) to maintain the health and nutritional condition of pregnant women, with the hope that the baby can be born healthy and at the same time reduce infant mortality," he pointed out.

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According to him, stunting case percentage in the province is still high at 24.6 percent by the end of 2022.

Although, that percentage has dropped quite significantly if compared to 2021 with a prevalence of 30 percent, when South Kalimantan is among the provinces with the highest cases of stunting in Indonesia.

"Our efforts in 2022 has greatly reduced about 6 percent of stunting cases. This year, we are maximizing again so that it drops more significantly," he said.

The method, Diauddin said, is according to the instruction of Governor H Sahbirin Noor, that all elements in the provincial, districts and cities governments as well as TNI-Polri jointly handle stunting problem.