BPOM: IDAMAN Programme a Joint Effort with Regional Governments to Educate Public, Eradicate Illegal Herbal Medicine

The Food and Drug Authority (BPOM) has stated that the Indonesia Aware of Safe Herbal Medicine (IDAMAN) Programme is a joint effort with regional governments to improve public literacy in selecting and using safe herbal medicine (jamu) and to reduce the circulation of illegal products. BPOM Head Taruna Ikrar said the programme is a response to the high number of natural medicine products found to contain medicinal chemicals (BKO) in the field. To break the chain of distribution of these illegal herbal medicines, he said, the role of the community as consumers, business actors, and regional governments is needed through the IDAMAN Programme.

During the period from January to April 2026, BPOM conducted surveillance through sampling and testing of 1,851 natural medicine products. From that total, 87 product items were proven to contain medicinal chemicals, he said in a statement in Jakarta on Wednesday. As another example, during 2025, the agency sampled and tested 11,654 natural medicine products and health supplements, with 206 products proving to contain medicinal chemicals. BPOM’s cyber patrols also discovered 39,386 links selling illegal or non-compliant natural medicines.

Regarding these various findings, BPOM has followed up by imposing administrative sanctions and undertaking law enforcement actions according to the level of violation found. He explained that the IDAMAN Programme is an implementation of Presidential Regulation Number 54 of 2023 concerning the Development and Utilisation of Jamu.

This programme is designed as a national movement integrating supervision, education, community empowerment, and business actor development through synergy between BPOM and regional governments, he said. Its implementation is carried out through interventions at the district/city level to realise IDAMAN districts/cities.

In the same statement, Central Java Deputy Governor Taj Yasin Maimoen responded positively to the presence of the IDAMAN Programme. His region has many herbal medicine centres or villages that have the potential to be developed as part of strengthening the national herbal medicine industry, empowering the community’s economy, and also attracting tourists. Taj Yasin also appreciated BPOM’s efforts in routinely conducting surveillance of herbal medicine in several areas in Central Java.