RI to tap potential of traditional and herbal medicines

The Jakarta Post, Elly Burhaini Faizal, Jakarta, Mon, 04/30/2012

Indonesia is committed to developing non-conventional health care that includes traditional, alternative and complimentary medicines as about 80 percent of the country’s population already uses traditional medicines, especially herbal medicines, a senior health official says.

Director General of Nutrition and Maternal and Child Health at the Health Ministry, Slamet Riyadi Yuwono, said on Monday that Indonesia had more than 9,000 species of plants with potential as medicine but only a few of them were developed as herbal medicines.

“We’ve seen a shifting of public interest from modern medical practice to health care which uses the concept of back to nature,” he said on the sidelines of a meeting with visiting officials from Thailand’s Public Health Ministry.

The Thai delegation was led by Suphan Srithamma, director general of the Department for Development of Thai Traditional and Alternative Medicine (DTAM) at the Thai Ministry of Health.

Citing World Health Organization (WHO) data from 2005, Slamet said about 80 percent of the world’s population used herbal medicines.

Scientific studies have shown that 9,600 out of a total 30,000 species of plants in Indonesia have an efficacy as a medicine; however, only a few of them have been used as medicines.

“Thus, we will further promote the development of traditional and herbal medicines by conducting jamu (herbal medicine) scientification and integrating traditional and herbal-based medications into existing health care services,” said Slamet.

In 2008, President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono declared jamu to be the brand of Indonesian herbal medicine.

The Tawangmangu Declaration announced during the 3rd Conference on Traditional Medicine in ASEAN Countries in 2011 agreed upon the use of evidence-based herbal medicine.

Twelve hospitals have so far developed traditional, alternative and complimentary health care services. They include three hospitals in Jakarta (Dharmais Cancer Center, Persahabatan, and Mintoharjo Navy Hospital); Dr Soetomo Hospital in Surabaya; Dr Saiful Anwar Hospital in Malang; Dr Sardjito Hospital in Yogyakarta; Sanglah Hospital in Denpasar; Dr Pirngadi Hospital in Medan; Prof.Dr.R.Soeharso Hospital in Solo; Dr Suraji Tirtonegoro Hospital in Klaten; Dr Wahidin Sudiro Husodo Hospital in Makassar; and Prof.Dr.RD Kandou in Manado.

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