BPOM Launches 'Indonesia Aware of Safe Herbal Medicine' Movement

The Indonesian Food and Drug Authority (BPOM) has launched the ‘Indonesia Sadar Jamu Aman’ (Idaman) movement as an effort to raise awareness regarding the safe production and consumption of traditional medicines. Speaking in Semarang on Tuesday, the Head of BPOM, Taruna Ikram, stated that there are currently 22,000 types of herbal medicines and traditional remedies registered with the agency that have obtained distribution permits.

‘People have long assumed that drinking jamu is safe, and indeed it is. However, the reality is that many producers are making jamu unsafe,’ he said. Taruna noted that certain unscrupulous actors have been mixing herbal medicines with chemical drugs, an action that damages the reputation of traditional jamu as a safe product.

He further explained that Indonesia possesses extremely high biodiversity, with approximately 31,000 plant species capable of serving as raw materials for herbal medicine. ‘We have very high biodiversity potential, yet it has not been maximised economically,’ he added. Consequently, Taruna is calling for support from all regional heads to campaign for the awareness of producing and consuming safe herbal medicines.

In response, the Vice Governor of Central Java, Taj Yasin Maimoen, expressed his support for the Idaman movement. He noted that Central Java possesses numerous ‘jamu villages’ that could be further optimised, while emphasising that education regarding illegal herbal medicines containing chemical additives must be aggressively campaigned.