UNAIR NEWS – Universitas Airlangga (UNAIR) reaffirmed its commitment to community service, extending its reach to some of the country’s most remote areas. Through the Patriot Expedition Team, UNAIR launched a Healthy Village development program in the transmigration area of Prafi District, Manokwari Regency, West Papua. The program focuses on strengthening environmental sanitation, promoting Clean and Healthy Living Behavior (PHBS), and empowering the local economy based on the community’s local potential.
Head of Team 11 of the Patriot Expedition, Dr Corie Indria Prasasti MKes, explained that the program, titled “Sanitation Revitalization and PHBS: A Strategy for Accelerating Healthy Villages,” prioritizes simple, environmentally friendly, appropriate, and sustainable technologies.
“The program began with a needs assessment and a Focus Group Discussion (FGD). This step is crucial for identifying local conditions, residents’ readiness, and stakeholder support, with the goal of determining the most appropriate form of intervention,” Dr Prasasti said.
Addressing sanitation and environmental empowerment
Based on the field assessment, suboptimal domestic waste management emerged as one of the main issues. In response, the Patriot Expedition Team prepared a series of flagship programs, including the installation of household wastewater treatment facilities, training in composting organic waste, the introduction of hydroponic farming, and ongoing education on Community-Led Total Sanitation (STBM) and PHBS.
To ensure the program’s sustainability, the team engaged various segments of the local community, including the PKK (Family Welfare Movement) Mobilization Team, farmer groups, and Posyandu health cadres.
“The involvement of these community groups is expected to give rise to natural leaders, local figures who can independently sustain sanitation practices and healthy living habits even after the team’s assignment has ended,” Dr Prasasti added.
SMART Posyandu innovation: strengthening health services and family economies
Beyond environmental sanitation, the Patriot Expedition, alongside the Papua SMART Posyandu Team led by Dr Muthmainnah MKes, introduced innovations to strengthen the capacity of Posyandu health cadres as frontline providers of village-level health services.
Through collaboration with the Prafi Community Health Center (Puskesmas), the team worked to improve the health cadres’ technical skills while also providing support for family economic empowerment based on local potential.
“Posyandu health cadres not only need to be capable of providing health services, but also need the knowledge, skills, and opportunities to improve their families’ economic conditions,” Dr Muthmainnah explained.
She added that the cadres’ financial independence would have a significant impact on the consistency of their services. “When cadres are healthy, confident, and financially independent, they will be better equipped to support the community,” she emphasized.
Through this collaborative effort, Universitas Airlangga has demonstrated its tangible contribution to accelerating development in transmigration areas of West Papua, while also advancing Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 3, Good Health and Well-Being, and SDG 6, Clean Water and Sanitation.
Author: Fauziah Laili Romadhon
Editor: Ragil Kukuh Imanto
