The Riau province representative office of the National Population and Family Planning Agency (BKKBN) is expediting stunting case audits in the province by intensifying teleconsultations between the technical and expert teams.
The expert team consists of pediatricians, obstetricians, psychologists, and nutritionists.
“Clinical teleconsultation is being carried out remotely between the technical team and the expert team for diagnosing stunting cases,” the head of Riau BKKBN, Mardalena Wati Yulia, informed in a statement released here on Saturday.
According to her, teleconsultation has been found necessary because, currently, it is hard to find the right time for the technical and expert teams to conduct stunting audits together, directly in the field.
Some of the organizations supporting stunting case audits in Riau are the Indonesian Pediatric Society (IDAI), the Indonesian Society of Obstetrics and Gynecology (POGI), the Indonesian Nutrition Higher Education Institutions Association (AIPGI), and the Indonesian Psychology Association (Himpsi).
“Audits of stunting cases are needed as a form of identification of the risk of stunting in the target groups, (such as) prospective brides, children aged under two, pregnant women, and post-partum mothers,” Yulia said.
Stunting case audits have been carried out twice in Riau so far, she informed. Audit teams have also been formed at the district level.
The stunting case audits are part of an effort to identify the risks and causes of risks among target groups based on surveillance or other data sources, she said.
“For that reason, handling stunting cases needs routine and adequate data surveillance that is based on case selection and study,” she added.
She further said that the effort is supporting the detection of stunting cases and paving the way for consultation and coordination between policymakers, program implementers, and activities with experts.
She then expressed the hope that no more obstacles would be faced by the family assistance teams (TPK) in districts and cities, stunting case audit teams in districts and cities, as well as family planning regional government organizations (OPD) in carrying out their tasks.
Source: Antara News