Jakarta - Non-Communicable Diseases (NCDs) are still a major health problem in Indonesia. One of the causes is the behavior of people consuming high levels of sugar, salt, fat (GGL). Based on this, the Health Development Policy Agency (BKPK) in collaboration with the Association of Health Services throughout Indonesia (ADINKES) held a Cross-Program/Sector Meeting on the Development of GGL Policies for Controlling NCDs in Indonesia on Wednesday (19/02) in Jakarta.
ADINKES Chairman M. Subuh said that preventive efforts are closely related to culture and behavior. Indonesian society, since young, is accustomed to consuming high GGL. "Since childhood, our children have been cultured to eat high salt, high sugar, and high fat. Of course this is a big problem. As long as we do not intervene in sugar, salt and fat, we cannot reduce cases of hypertension, coronary heart disease, and diabetes mellitus," said Subuh in his speech.
In line with that, Deputy for Coordination of Health Quality Improvement of the Coordinating Ministry for Human Development and Culture Sukadiono said that controlling NCDs and GGL consumption is the main focus of the government. According to him, efforts to improve the quality of public health require the contribution of public awareness in implementing a healthy lifestyle to reduce the prevalence of NCDs.
Furthermore, Sukadiono said that the Indonesian government is strongly committed to overcoming these challenges with various strategic policies. Namely, by ratifying the Health Law No. 17 of 2023 which includes controlling NCD risk factors. Furthermore, the 2022 National Health Transformation Agenda emphasizes the importance of comprehensive prevention and control of NCDs. As well as reformulation of food policies, including the elimination of artificial trans fats, sodium restrictions, and regulation of packaging and labeling of high GGL foods.
Meanwhile, Head of BKPK Asnawi Abdullah in his speech said that the burden of NCDs continues to increase and is a major challenge to the national health system. "The results of various studies, NCDs have contributed almost 75% of the total death rate in Indonesia. If we examine further, this has also had an impact on the escalation of our health spending," he said. Asnawi explained that the presentation delivered by the Minister of Health at a meeting at Commission IX of the DPR, stated that the average increase in Indonesia's health spending has reached 7,6% since 2015. This figure is higher than the average increase in our GDP of 5-6% per year.
Asnawi emphasized that escalation of health spending can be done by controlling various major risk factors for NCDs. According to Asnawi, by strengthening various policies such as controlling unhealthy food products, limiting high-sodium foods, controlling consumption and distribution of food products with high sugar content, as well as foods containing unhealthy fats, and clearer and more informative labeling policies on packaging.
"And we are able to suppress the rate of escalation of financing if we are able to implement more appropriate fiscal policies and encourage Indonesian citizens to live healthier and more productive lives," he added.
Asnawi said that the average salt consumption increased to 11 grams per day, while this figure is higher or twice the WHO recommendation. Trans fat exposure is still high in various food products. This condition underlines the importance of strategic steps in changing people's consumption patterns.
According to him, there needs to be reinforcement that encourages a healthier lifestyle in society. Asnawi gave an example of a lifestyle in society such as "healthy is cool". He hopes that a healthy lifestyle can be instilled since pre-school age so that it becomes a new culture in the future and becomes part of the culture of the Indonesian nation.
Furthermore, Asnawi appreciated ADINKES for initiating today's meeting. It is hoped that through this meeting, cross-sector collaboration can be increased as input for formulating more effective and applicable policies to control PTM in Indonesia. (Author: Faza Nur Wulandari, Editor: HDI Team)
