Health Minister Meets BGN Chief, Accompanied by Nutritionists to Provide Input on Free Nutritious Meals

Health Minister Budi Gunadi Sadikin received a visit from the Head of the National Nutrition Agency (BGN), Sudaryono, to discuss improvements to the governance of the free nutritious meals (MBG) programme on Wednesday (4/8).

During a joint press conference following the meeting at the Ministry of Health office in South Jakarta, Budi stated that the discussion included nutrition experts who were invited to provide input on improving the MBG menu and services.

“We discussed it, we sat down together, we invited nutrition experts, including those who frequently provide input,” Budi Gunadi Sadikin said after the meeting.

Meanwhile, in his presentation, Sudaryono, who has only served as Head of BGN for two weeks, expressed his desire to receive extensive input and collaborate with various parties.

During the meeting, Sudaryono acknowledged receiving substantial input from the Ministry of Health and nutrition experts to improve the MBG programme going forward. The input particularly concerned portion sizes, services in underdeveloped regions, and eliminating the risk of food poisoning.

“Starting from portions, from the 3T [frontier, outermost, and underdeveloped] regions, then food safety to prevent poisoning, and then how to involve nutritionists,” he said.

“We plan to create a discussion group so that we can continue discussing this, not just once today but continuously,” Sudaryono added.