Indonesian Minister of Health (Menkes) Budi Gunadi Sadikin said that 1 in 3 Indonesians suffers from hypertension, and the number continues to increase every year. He even calls high blood pressure a “silent killer” because it increases the risk of heart disease, stroke, kidney failure, and other diseases that cause death and enormous health costs.
The number of people suffering from hypertension in several regions in Indonesia is still quite high, including in Karimunjawa, an archipelagic region in the Java Sea, Jepara Regency, Central Java which is famous for its natural beauty. In 2019, hypertension is the third most common disease suffered by local people with a total of 409 patients. An evaluation carried out by the Karimunjawa Community Health Center also found that hypertension is a common disease suffered by the people of Karimunjawa Island due to their tendency to consume sodium from marine animals.
Blood vessels are one way of providing nutrition from the mother to the fetus, so that the fetus can have its needs met while in the womb. High maternal blood pressure during pregnancy has an impact on blood vessel disorders which disrupt the transportation of nutrients from the mother to the fetus. This is what triggers the limited intake of nutrients received by the fetus which is a support for growth and development while in the womb. These limitations are the cause of low birth weight children.
In response to the high cases of hypertension in pregnant women and stunting in Karimunjawa, the Community Care Team at the University of Indonesia (Kepmas UI) held a training on making and caring for Family Medicinal Plants (TOGA) at the Karimunjawa Village Hall on August 16th 2023. The training entitled “Cheerful and Happy Karimunjawa” was addressed to mothers with stunting toddlers, the Family Welfare Empowerment Team (PKK), the Acceleration of Stunting Management Team (TPPS), Posyandu cadres, Puskesmas cadres, and the local government.
In this hydroponic TOGA planting training activity, mothers of stunting toddlers, PKK teams, TPPS teams, Posyandu cadres, Community Health Center cadres, and residents of Karimunjawa District were given explanations about how to plant, care for, utilize and process TOGA hydroponically. The Kepmas UI team provided counseling while demonstrating how to grow hydroponic plants directly to the activity participants.
Most of the training participants said that many residents of Karimunjawa Village had planted plants such as chilies, ginger, galangal, galangal and turmeric using conventional planting methods using soil. This indicates that residents are quite familiar with TOGA. However, residents say that the soil in Karimunjawa is not suitable for growing plants because it tends to be sandy, making it less fertile.
Therefore, the UI Community Care Team came up with a solution to initiate hydroponic TOGA planting without soil to overcome this problem. The TOGA plants that are educated and planted are divided into spinach and mustard greens to overcome stunting, and lettuce and celery to treat hypertension.
The TOGA planting training activities went smoothly and the participants were interested in knowing the hydroponic planting method, especially after being explained about TOGA care and processing of the results. Not only that, the UI Kepmas Team also provided booklets to make it easier for Puskesmas cadres, Posyandu cadres, and Karimunjawa District residents to apply the hydroponic method and to ensure the sustainability of this community care program.
The Head of Karimunjawa Village, Arif Setiawan, said, “The hope is that this activity will not only be useful now, but can also be developed for a long time by the residents of Karimunjawa Village.”
The UI Kepmas team “Cheerful and Healthy Karimunjawa” is mostly students from the Faculty of Pharmacy (FF) at the Universitas Indonesia (UI), and is assisted by students from the Faculty of Nursing (FIK) and the Faculty of Humanities (FIB). The team was led by Mauna Munifah Indarwati, and consisted of Muhammad Mishbahus Surur, Fadhilatul Ikromah, Annisa Fitriyah, Nafisa Thahira, Fahrani Asvita, Kezya Paquita Andrian, Raihana Ghibtha Putri, Samuel Budiman, M. Rais Makka, and Faiq Firni R., as well as field assistant lecturers, Dr. apt. Donna Maretta Ariestanti, M.Sc. and apt. Arif Arrahman, M. Farm.
In organizing this activity, the UI Kepmas Team collaborated with the Karimunjawa District Health Center, Karimunjawa Village Government, Karimunjawa District Government, as well as several sponsors, namely PT. Guardian Pharmatama, PT. Taisho Pharmaceutical Indonesia TBK., AQUA, and PT. Tiga Kunci Utama.
