UNS – Zahwa Fitrotul Maghfiroh, a third-semester student in the Bachelor of Midwifery Program at the Faculty of Medicine (FK), Universitas Sebelas Maret (UNS) Surakarta, has won first place in the student category of the Sibijaks (Health Policy Recommendation) Awards 2024. This prestigious competition is organized by the Agency for Health Policy Development (BKPK) of the Ministry of Health (Kemenkes) of the Republic of Indonesia.
Zahwa’s policy brief, titled “Strengthening Policies on Iron Supplement Distribution in Schools to Reduce Stunting Prevalence,” was based on a selected policy question regarding priority interventions for stunting prevention.
“The content of the policy brief addresses the issues of stunting, anemia among adolescent girls, and the current implementation of the Iron Supplement (TTD) program in schools. The data was drawn from the 2023 Indonesian Health Survey (SKI). After describing the problem, the policy brief provides recommendations that I propose to address the issues previously outlined,” Zahwa explained to uns.ac.id on Tuesday (22/10/2024).
The competition consisted of three stages. The first stage involved the submission of abstracts, followed by the submission of full papers, both conducted online. The final stage, which included presentations, took place in person at the Wyndham Casablanca Hotel in Jakarta from September 30 to October 2, 2024. The announcement of the winners and the awards ceremony was held at the Siwabessy Auditorium, Prof. Sujudi Building, Ministry of Health, on Friday (18/10/2024).
Zahwa’s policy recommendation stood out among 119 other abstracts, earning her a place in the final and securing the first prize. Throughout the competition, Zahwa was mentored by Nurul Jannatul Wahidah, S.ST., M.Kes, a lecturer from the UNS Midwifery Program.
“Before the announcement, the top three finalists in each category were asked to present their policy briefs once more in a panel. I was also allowed to deliver a brief presentation of my policy recommendations in the form of a poster to the Minister of Health of Indonesia, Budi Gunadi Sadikin. I hope that the policy recommendations submitted by the other participants and me will be implemented and contribute to improving health outcomes in Indonesia,” Zahwa shared.
She also encouraged her fellow students not to shy away from taking opportunities and to embrace failure as a learning experience. “Don’t be afraid to fail because failure teaches us valuable lessons. It’s better to fail trying than to never try at all,” Zahwa added.
The Sibijaks Awards 2024 is a competition focused on designing health policy recommendations based on data from the 2023 Indonesian Health Survey. The recommendations, presented in the form of policy briefs, focus on specific health policy issues and propose alternative solutions to problems requiring immediate attention from policymakers. The theme of the Sibijaks Awards 2024 was “Utilizing SKI 2023 Data for Health Policy Recommendations Towards Indonesia Emas 2045.” HUMAS UNS
