On Saturday, December 14, 2024, the Master’s Program in Public Health at the Faculty of Public Health (FPH) of the Universitas Indonesia (UI), specializing in Public Health Nutrition, successfully held the 28th FPH UI Online Seminar with the theme “Megathrust Issues: Mitigation, Preparedness, and Nutritional Response.” The event aimed to enhance public understanding and preparedness regarding the importance of nutrition in disaster situations. The seminar was open to students, practitioners, and the general public.
This seminar emphasized the urgency of mitigation and preparedness in facing the potential of a megathrust disaster—a major earthquake phenomenon that could trigger a tsunami and widespread physical and social damage. In her opening remarks, Dr. Laila Fitria, S.K.M., M.K.M., the Education Manager of FPH UI, emphasized the relevance of the topic. “Indonesia, as a country located on the Pacific Ring of Fire, has high seismic and volcanic activity. The threat of major disasters, such as a megathrust, is real and significantly impacts not only infrastructure but also public health, especially vulnerable groups like children, pregnant women, and the elderly,” Dr. Laila stated.
Dr. Laila also emphasized that this seminar is part of a series of strategic discussions aimed at building quick, accurate, and inclusive nutritional responses. By raising the perspective of nutrition in disaster situations, this seminar opens up opportunities for multi-party collaboration to strengthen a sustainable nutritional emergency response system. Additionally, the experiences shared are expected to inspire more effective mitigation steps.
“On this occasion, we will delve deeper into discussions regarding preparedness and responses to megathrust issues from a nutritional aspect. The threat of earthquakes and tsunamis in the southern Java plate boundary is a reminder for all of us to continuously improve mitigation and preparedness efforts, particularly in the field of public health,” said Dr. Fathimah Sulistyowati Sigit, M.Res., Ph.D., Head of the Department of Nutrition at FPH UI, in her remarks. Dr. Fathimah also added that in the field of nutrition, there is the concept of emergency nutrition, a strategic approach designed to minimize the risks of malnutrition and infectious diseases in disaster-affected areas. “In critical situations and disasters, we often face serious threats, such as malnutrition and digestive health issues. Therefore, it is important to ensure the quality and quantity of nutrition for those affected to prevent further impact,” she stressed. Through this seminar, Dr. Fathimah hoped that all participants could understand the urgency of cross-sector collaboration to create concrete steps to strengthen the emergency nutrition response system.
Kartika Wahyu Dwi Putra, S.K.M., M.Kes., from the Directorate of Nutrition and MCH, Directorate General of Public Health, Ministry of Health, presented the importance of a holistic approach to maintaining maternal and child health in disaster situations. She explained that the framework for nutritional response during emergencies includes various stages, starting with needs assessment and analysis, planning, resource mobilization, implementing nutrition-sensitive interventions, and monitoring and evaluation. “Cross-sector coordination, risk communication, and community involvement are crucial factors in ensuring the success of nutritional interventions during disasters,” Kartika stated.
The initial phase of response begins with data collection and analysis prior to the disaster to assess initial needs and compile an integrated report. Kartika also highlighted the importance of conducting nutrition surveys as the situation transitions to normal. “Nutritional supplementation and support for vulnerable groups, such as infants, pregnant women, and breastfeeding mothers, should be prioritized to prevent malnutrition,” Kartika explained. She emphasized the need for in-depth studies on food insecurity, local market conditions, and cultural preferences in determining effective interventions.
According to Kartika, coordinating nutrition handling during a disaster requires organized cross-sector work. Activating the nutrition sub-cluster mechanism is a strategic step to ensure that all resources and partner work areas are managed efficiently. “We ensure that specific issues, such as child protection, women, and people with disabilities, are integrated into the work plans to provide comprehensive support,” she said. At the end of her presentation, Kartika emphasized the importance of improving human resource capacity as a proactive step in facing future disasters. Through this approach, it is hoped that the impact of disasters on public health and nutrition can be minimized.
“In emergency situations, we often see an increase in malnutrition, undernutrition, micronutrient deficiencies, and even chronic nutritional problems in some contexts,” said Sri Wahyuni Sukotjo, B.Sc., M.A., a nutrition specialist from UNICEF Indonesia. The main focus of nutritional interventions during emergencies is supporting and protecting infant and child feeding practices, managing malnutrition, preventing micronutrient deficiencies, providing supplementary feeding, and supporting nutrition for vulnerable groups, such as people living with HIV/AIDS.
Sri Wahyuni emphasized the importance of combining specific nutrition interventions with sensitive nutrition interventions, including economic support, social protection schemes, and the provision of clean water and sanitation. “Nutritional responses in emergency situations not only aim to prevent short-term morbidity and mortality but also to enhance community resilience in the long term,” she explained. This approach includes preparedness, risk-based programming, and early recovery focused on strengthening local capacities without dependency on external resources. Furthermore, Sri Wahyuni highlighted the plight of millions of children worldwide affected by conflict, climate change, displacement, poverty, and disease outbreaks. Their basic rights are often overlooked, making the application of minimum humanitarian standards essential. “Sphere has defined and promoted humanitarian principles in four life-saving areas: water and sanitation, food security and nutrition, shelter, and health,” added Sri Wahyuni. Through this holistic approach, UNICEF continues to improve integrated, sustainable, and needs-based nutrition support for vulnerable groups during disasters. Comprehensive handling becomes an urgent need in addressing the risks of major disasters, such as megathrust threats and other emergency situations.
Dr. Ir. Afrial Rosya, M.A., M.Si., from the National Disaster Management Agency (BNPB), emphasized that disaster mitigation is not only focused on infrastructure development, such as early warning systems and sea barriers, but also on enhancing community capacity through education and training. “Collaboration between the government, communities, and universities is essential to ensure sustainable disaster preparedness,” Dr. Afrial stressed. He also highlighted the importance of the InaRisk platform as a technology-based tool for effectively analyzing disaster risks. In this context, community nutrition is a vital element to ensure health is maintained during and after a disaster.
In line with this, Dr. Cri Sajjana Prajna Wekadigunawan, DVM., M.P.H., Ph.D., from the Indonesian Red Cross (PMI), explained that responses to nutritional emergencies require optimization of public kitchens as an integral part of disaster response management. “The basic principles of public kitchens include time efficiency, hygiene, and fairness in food distribution,” she explained. Through a community-based approach and the inclusion of healthy food components such as proteins, carbohydrates, and micronutrients, PMI ensures that disaster victims’ basic needs are met equitably. Furthermore, the 6M approach—covering men (human resources), money (funding), material (supplies), machine (equipment), method (approach), and market (target groups)—is applied to enhance logistics management effectiveness. (DFD)