Klojen (malangkota.go.id) – The Malang City Health Office (Dinkes) held a Review/Strengthening of the Posyandu Operational Working Group (Pokjanal) at the Aria Gajayana Hotel in Malang City, Thursday (25/5/2023). The strengthening of the Posyandu Pokjanal is an effort to strengthen and align perceptions and synergize the tasks and functions of each stakeholder related to the posyandu development policy in Malang City towards a better posyandu in order to improve the health of the Malang City community.
"Posyandu is important, because it is the most extreme in service, even if it is once a month. Of course the target is a national priority program," said the Head of the Malang City Health Office, dr. Husnul Muarif.
Husnul said that the presence of Posyandu can also support efforts to reduce the Maternal Mortality Rate (MMR), Infant Mortality Rate (IMR), and stunting by monitoring through KMS. "So the progress can be seen. If it is not appropriate, it means that there must be an intervention. If it is comprehensive like that, it is certainly better," he added.
With integrated handling, it is hoped that the stunting rate can be reduced. "The Mayor (of Malang City) hopes that our stunting rate will be at two percent, now it is still 8,9 percent based on the February weighing month. How do we do it? Those who are at risk of stunting will be our intervention. We will strengthen the intervention at the Health Center and that does take time," explained Husnul.
The friendly man said that Posyandu is the first line of defense for monitoring public health. Malang City has around 6.000 cadres with more than 600 posyandus. According to him, this number is enough to detect public health problems.
In addition to strengthening the posyandu, Husnul also emphasized the importance of increasing public interest in going to Posyandu. The Malang City Health Office noted that public interest in going to toddler posyandu has not met the target. Community participation is still 70 percent.
"Those who come to the Posyandu (toddlers) to weigh and so on are still 70 percent, whereas the ideal is 85 percent. Many of our targets have not been reached, there are still thousands that have not been measured. This requires increased participation from the community. It cannot only be in the Health Office, but everyone must support increasing participation. So today it is strengthened by how the role of the Posyandu Pokjanal is, one of which is by issuing the Mayor's Decree," he explained.
Meanwhile, the Representative of the East Java Provincial Health Office, Ida Mahfiroh, S.KM said that in the future, Posyandu will no longer be limited to monitoring the condition of toddlers. "Posyandu will later handle all life cycles, Posyandu in the future will also be developed not only in health services but can be integrated with other basic social services," explained Ida.
Regarding the role of Posyandu in detecting and suppressing stunting rates, Ida said that Posyandu is the spearhead of stunting data. "Because it is from Posyandu that infant growth and development data are obtained. Posyandu cadres are encouraged to be able to carry out measurements properly and correctly," she said.
Present at this meeting were all stakeholders and cross-regional apparatus related to the development of integrated health posts, such as the Health Office, Education and Culture Office, Social Services Office P3AP2KB, Agriculture and Food Security Office, Environmental Agency, Communication and Information Office, DPUPRPKP, Government Section, Sub-district Head, Health Center, TP PKK, Integrated Health Post Cadres, and the Healthy City Forum. (ari/yon)
