Ministry of Health of the Republic of Indonesia, USAID and PT Freeport Indonesia Launch PASTI-Papua to Accelerate Stunting Reduction
(Peluncuran program Partnership to Accelerate Stunting Reduction in Indonesia (PASTI-Papua) dihadiri oleh (dari kanan ke kiri): Director, Executive Vice President Sustainable Development PTFI Claus Wamafma, Mission Direktur USAID Indonesia Jeff Cohen, Deputi Bidang Pengembangan Regional Bappenas Tri Dewi Virgiyanti, Sekretaris Daerah Kabupaten Nabire Pieter Erari, Sekretaris Daerah Mimika Petrus Yumte, Kepala Dinas Kesehatan Provinsi Papua dr. Silwanus Sumule SpOG, Ketua tim kerja stunting Kementerian Kesehatan Republik Indonesia Dahlan Choeroen, Direktur Nasional WVI Angel Theodora, Perwakilan Bappeda Provinsi Papua Selatan Muh. Arie Tuyu, Kepala Dinas Pertanian dan Ketahanan Pangan Kabupaten Asmat. Foto-foto: CorpCom Freeport)
Timika, KontenMimika.com – The Ministry of Health of the Republic of Indonesia (MoH) together with the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), PT Freeport Indonesia (PTFI), and Wahana Visi Indonesia (WVI) launched the Partnership to Accelerate Stunting Reduction in Indonesia (PASTI)-Papua program on Friday September 13th 2024.
The program aims to support the acceleration of stunting reduction and improvement of children’s nutritional status in three (3) regencies located in 2 provinces, namely Mimika Regency and Nabire Regency in Central Papua Province and Asmat Regency in South Papua Province.
The representative from the Ministry of Health of the Republic of Indonesia, dr. Maria E. Sumiwi., MPH said, the PASTI-Papua partnership with the Ministry of Health is in line with national development goals, namely to create quality and competitive Indonesian human resources.
“Promotive and preventive efforts are the basis for preventing the occurrence of new stunting in Indonesia, including changing people’s behavior. Hopefully the existence of PASTI-Papua can create cross-sector coordination and convergence to accelerate stunting reduction in the Papua region,” she said.
Based on the 2023 Indonesian Health Survey (SKI), Central Papua Province had a stunting prevalence rate of 39.4% with 46,128 stunting cases. Meanwhile, the stunting prevalence rate in South Papua reached 25% with 33,304 stunting cases.
The stunting prevalence is still far from the expectations of the Government of the Republic of Indonesia, which has set a national stunting prevalence target of 14% by 2024.
If not addressed immediately, stunted children have a risk of brain development that can result in reduced cognitive abilities that affect future work productivity.
Meanwhile, the acceleration of stunting reduction in Papua faces several challenges, ranging from the lack of public knowledge about the importance of antenatal checks, child checks and monitoring at Integrated Health Center (Posyandu), to feeding by empowering nutritious local food.
USAID Mission Director of Indonesia, Jeff Cohen said, USA is pleased to help Indonesia’s efforts to resolve the problem of stunting by establishing partnership programs, especially in targeted districts.
“The government of the United States is pleased to work with PT. Freeport Indonesia in supporting the Government of Indonesia’s efforts to prevent stunting in children in Central Papua and South Papua Provinces. Through partnerships with local communities, local governments, and other stakeholders, we will develop sustainable solutions that will address the root causes of stunting,” said Cohen.
Director, Executive Vice President Sustainable Development PTFI Claus Wamafma said Freeport Indonesia is committed to improving the quality of life of communities around the mining area, one of which is through investment in health programs.
“Through the integrated PASTI Papua program and the cooperation of all parties, we hope to accelerate efforts to reduce stunting and improve the nutritional status of children so that the health of the Papuan people is protected,” said Claus.
Petrus Yumte, Mimika Regional Secretary mentions, the implementation of stunting reduction interventions needs to be carried out in an integrated manner with a holistic approach with multi-stakeholder and multi sector.
“The local government is committed to reducing the stunting rate to 14% by 2024. It is hoped that with PASTI-Papua, a behavior change strategy approach can be carried out to encourage the implementation of breastfeeding , the implementation of healthy diet practices and proper nutrition, in accordance with the local context,” he said.
PASTI-Papua will improve the quality of community-based nutritional health practices through three approaches. First, communication interventions for social behavior change involving community leaders.
Second, improving the quality of Puskesmas services through strengthening primary health care that is integrated, comprehensive and preventive for mothers, children and adolescents.
Third, increasing institutional capacity and collaborative governance among stakeholders in realizing the National Action Plan for the Acceleration of Stunting Reduction (RAN PASTI) at the subnational level to strengthen local partners.
In its implementation, PASTI-Papua will be implemented by Wahana Visi Indonesia which in today’s launch event was represented by the National Director, Angelina Theodora.
About PASTI-Papua
The Partnership to Accelerate Stunting Reduction in Indonesia (PASTI)-Papua programme is a partnership with the Ministry of Health of the Republic of Indonesia and supported by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) and PT Freeport Indonesia (PTFI) with the aim to contribute to the acceleration of stunting reduction and improved nutritional status in priority districts; Mimika District, Asmat District, and Nabire District, by 2026.
