UNAIR NEWS – Surabaya Mayor Eri Cahyadi attended the webinar held by the Faculty of Medicine on Tuesday afternoon, December 12, 2021. In this event, the speakers will review efforts to reduce the Maternal Mortality and Stunting Rate.
To eradicate stunting in children, Eri Cahyadi emphasized the importance of local governments having accurate and detailed data regarding childbirths. The data is not from a survey. From here, the detection of stunting risk factors will be much easier and more comprehensive. He said Surabaya had done it and the stunting rate per 2021 is only around 1000 children. In fact, he dared to hope that Surabaya would be zero-stunting in early 2022.
“It is also supported by multi-sector collaboration with strategic stakeholders in Surabaya. The community service greatly helps us by various medical faculties in Surabaya, which actually go directly to urban communities, disseminate ways to improve child nutrition so that stunting can be reduced in number,” said the PDIP politician.
Eri also launched a team called the Family Assistance Team (TPK) in each neighborhood, consisting of representatives from Health Workers, Family Welfare Empowerment Cadres (PKK), and Family Planning Cadres (KB). This team will detect the risk factors for stunting in the communities early on. The activities of the team are not only based in Posyandu but also go directly to the houses and accompany those indicated or have symptoms of stunting for 1000 days.
“Every day, this TPK will come down to houses to check its progress. Starting from measuring weight and height, whether the food has been eaten or not, whether the child likes the food. Even if the child does not like rice, we already have a substitute model in the form of snacks or nuggets full of nutrition. TPK will also be there to support if a family with a stunting risk is detected and they need health services or social assistance. So we are very thorough,” said Eri.
The Surabaya City Government also carries out preventive measures. Eri also mentioned the collaboration between the Surabaya City Government and the Office of Religious Affairs (KUA) for briefing prospective brides. There, they will be given training and certification by midwives to improve education regarding the importance of maternal health and child nutrition. According to Eri, data on people getting married and the emergence of understanding can be achieved in harmony.
Author: Pradnya Wicaksana
Editor: Nuri Hermawan
