Beware of illegal foreign traditional medicines: Government

JAKARTA (JP): The unauthorized distribution of traditional Chinese and Korean medicines in the capital has reached an alarming level, officials and observers said on Friday.

Director General of Food and Drug Control at the Ministry of Health and Social Welfare, Sampurno, said the government has therefore tightened controls over the marketing of foreign traditional medicines here, by requiring such imported items to pass a "red line" screening, a strict checking mechanism by the Customs and Excise Office.

"We found 154 unregistered Chinese drugs on the market during a recent operation. So, we warn people to be very careful as many of these have not been medically tested.

"There were a total of 1,323 such items on sale before we imposed tight regulation on the importation of traditional medicines. After strict screening, only about 130 managed to pass the test and be officially registered," Sampurno told The Jakarta Post by phone.

Director of Consumer Protection at the Ministry of Trade and Industry, Budiyono, also confirmed that he had received complaints from the public about unregistered medicines.

Sampurno said a massive influx of foreign traditional medicines was unavoidable, especially during the current crisis.

"As their prices are far cheaper than registered modern medicines, people tend to resort to them despite a lack of information on their contents and possible side effects. This is dangerous," Sampurno said.

In several cases, Chinese traditional medicines used for the treatment of rheumatism were found to consist of the same chemical substances as used in prescription drugs, he said.

"Irregular doses and the long-term use of these drugs could induce kidney failure, but people are not aware of this as the labels are all written in Chinese," he added.

Sampurno further said people should check for the official label "TI" (Imported Traditional) or "TR" (Local Traditional) on the packaging of traditional medicines.

Zoemrotin K. Susilo, an executive, and former chairwoman, of the Indonesian Consumers' Foundation (YLKI), said that besides being sold at regular drugstores, the medicines were also being distributed door-to-door.

"To attract buyers, (the medicines' suppliers) hire attractive people to offer the medicines to make it look like that the medicines are really effective," she told reporters on the sidelines of a media briefing on consumer protection.

Zoemrotin also said that the suppliers had recruited many housewives to sell them at women's gatherings, locally known as arisan.

"It's very alarming as these women do not know what the suppliers are selling," she said.

She added that the medicines, which are offered as remedies for various ailments, had not been tested for their effectiveness and could be harmful to consumers.

"The medicines are like a knife with two edges, they can cure or kill," Zoemrotin said.

Sampurno explained that imported traditional medicines are regulated under Ministry of Health Decree No. 1297/1998.

"Every foreign medicine must have a distributor here, who has been officially appointed by the producer concerned. It must also possess a certificate of resale, so as to show that the product has also been distributed in the country of origin.

"In addition, such medicines also have to obtain certificates of content analysis and, last but not least, they have to pass safety tests, conducted by government laboratories in respected schools of medicine, such as the University of Indonesia, (Yogyakarta-based) Gajah Mada University and (Surabaya-based) Airlangga University," he said.

The Food and Drug Control Office has opened a hotline for complaints, reports and information concerning traditional medicines at (021) 426-3333.

"Actually from 1980 to 1998, imported traditional medicines were banned from entering the country.

"Only those manufactured here were allowed," Sampurno said.

"Later, the rule was revoked and the producers were given the possibility of obtaining a two-year permit, in the expectation that they would set up production here. But it didn't work that way as they kept on extending the permits.

"So we have revised the rules and imposed tight controls on imported drugs," he added. (edt/jaw)