'Jamu' products withdrawn from the market

'Jamu' products withdrawn from the market

By Stevie Emilia

JAKARTA (JP): With the soaring prices of both generic and
patented drugs, more people are turning to jamu, or traditional
medicine as an alternative.

However, customers should now be more careful when selecting
their favorite traditional medicine -- usually offered in
sidewalk stalls or by roaming vendors known as jamu gendong --
because it may no longer just include natural ingredients but
also strong medical chemical substances as well.

In the Ministry of Health's letter, dated July 5, the Director
General of Food and Drugs Supervision, Sampurno, ordered the
withdrawal of 54 kinds of traditional medicine -- two were made
in Karawang, West Java while 52 others were from Cilacap and
Banyumas in Central Java.

The 54 brands were not registered at the ministry. They
contained medicinal chemical substances, such as antalgin,
teophylin, CTM, dexamethason, paracetamol, phenylbutason and
indometasin. Some of these are strong drugs that should only be
available on prescription.

The withdrawal was implemented after the Ministry of Health
failed to prevent local jamu vendors mixing medicinal chemical
substances with their products. Jamu vendors usually make
traditional medicine based on their knowledge of medicinal
plants, which can be cultivated or bought in markets.

The withdrawal of the jamu products has pros and cons. Many
jamu vendors have lost their jobs and consumers have become
confused.

Chairman of the Jamu Manufacturers Association, Irwan Hidayat,
welcomed the ministry's move as he believes consumer protection
is good for the manufacturers' businesses.

But he hopes that the government will continue to be very
careful about making such decisions in the future because the
jamu business involves many livelihoods.

"Our business is based on consumer trust. Once we lose it, it
will take time to get it back... ," Irwan told journalists on
Tuesday, after a discussion on the issue in Jakarta.

The association has 600 companies and 384 vendors, mostly in
Cilacap and Banyumas, as its members.

He revealed that the news of the withdrawal alone has cut the
industry's turnover by around 20 percent.

"Maybe we (jamu manufacturers) will place advertisements
explaining to customers that our products are free from chemical
substances...," Irwan said.

According to Health Law No. 23/1992, those who intentionally
produce or distribute pharmaceutical products in the form of
traditional medicine which do not meet the required standard, are
subject to a maximum of five years in prison or a Rp 100 million
fine. The punishment would be raised by one-fourth if the
violation caused heavy injury, or one-third if it caused death.

Sampurno understood why the decision was not greeted by jamu
vendors. "But the measure (to withdraw some jamu products) is
necessary to protect people and to prevent damaging the image of
Indonesian traditional medicine," he said.

Indonesian traditional medicine has been marketed abroad. For
example, in Malaysia and even as far away as Saudi Arabia.

He said that his directive, in cooperation with the
Yogyakarta-based Gadjah Mada University School of Pharmacy, would
supervise traditional jamu manufactures, especially in Cilacap
and Banyumas, to prevent them from mixing chemical substances
into their products.

Sampurno said, that at this time 53 jamu companies from
Cilacap had reached an agreement with his office that they would
no longer add medicinal chemical substances to their jamu. They
are given ministry registration in return.

"After they submit their applications, we give them a period
of one month to adjust to our requirements, i.e. no more
medicinal chemical substances in their products. We expect all of
these applications to be taken care of soon, by the end of the
year at the latest," said Sampurno.

The agreement, he admitted, would not solve all the problems.
"We still expect other small scale companies in the area,
especially home based jamu manufacturers, to carry on as before".
he said.

Queries

After the withdrawal of 54 brands of jamu from the market, the
Indonesian Consumers Foundation (YLKI) has received between 70
and 80 queries from both customers and vendors asking them about
the decision.

The foundation's new chairwoman, Indah Suksmaningsih, said
that a man had explained that one of the jamu products, which has
been withdrawn from the market, helped his 10-year-old child to
breathe easily and walk upright. But he later admitted that the
jamu had made his child's face swell.

"When I discussed the matter with dirjen (Sampurno), he told
me that after consuming the jamu the child may of breathed more
easily, but it could of adversely affected the child's kidneys,"
Indah told journalists.

Indra noted that by adding chemical substances to the herbs,
the vendors have deceived and posed danger to the consumers.

"YLKI stands behind the customers. We agree about the benefits
of traditional medicine. But there are plenty of ailments that
need to be cured... If there's no rules, it could be dangerous
for the customers," Indah said.

"In this time of monetary crisis, when many people prefer to
use jamu as an alternative to more expensive drugs, the
manufacturers must be responsible."

The foundation supported the ministry's move to withdrawal
dangerous traditional medicine from the market.

"But it should be followed through by further action, such as
monitoring sales and conducting research to find out which jamu
contains medical chemical substances or not," said the
foundation's former chairwoman Tini Hadad.

She realized that it would not be an easy task for the
ministry to analyze all jamu's products one by one as there could
be many unregistered companies.

So she advises customers to take necessary precautions: By
carefully selecting a jamu product, for example, by checking
whether it has been registered at the ministry and checking its
expire date.

"These precautions are important to prevent problems later
on," Tini said.

She added the ministry's move was in accordance with the
Consumers Protection Law, which will be effective in April.

Under the law, she said, consumers have the right to have
security and safety and are entitled to clear and correct
information.

"Jamu manufacturers are therefore expected to be responsible
companies."