Traditional healers need licenses

Leony Aurora, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Traditional healers must secure licenses from health agencies at the regency or municipal level if they want to practice, a health official said on Thursday.

Azrul Azwar, Director General for Public Health at the Ministry of Health, said health agencies would issue licenses only if traditional healers submitted a request, along with a recommendation from their respective association.

At least 30 associations for different types of traditional healers would be established within a month and these associations would also supervise their members' practices, he said.

"Existing associations should list themselves with the ministry," said Azwar. The ministry is currently preparing a ministerial decree on the associations.

It was not clear if those traditional healers had to meet certain "standard" requirements in order to get licenses and what kind of punishment would be meted out on those who practice without a license.

Azwar said the legislation was needed as the number of traditional healers was growing and there was no means of supervising them.

The associations would be urged to establish standards of service and a code of ethics, he said.

In the eyes of the ministry, traditional healers are people acknowledged by the public as capable of treating the sick or preventing illnesses using techniques passed down through generations or studied outside formal medical training.

There are four major categories, healers who use skills, traditional herbs, religious teachings, and spiritual healers.

These include masseurs, traditional circumcisers, acupuncturists, spa therapists, homeopaths, or shamans. The current number of traditional healers is still unknown but by 1997, there were already 280,000 traditional healers across the country.

"The number should be higher now as there is an increasing trend toward alternative healing, especially when modern medicine doesn't work," said Azrul.

A survey in 2001 showed that 9.8 percent of Indonesians use traditional methods to treat illnesses, more than double the 1998 figure of 4.5 percent.

The ministry is also concerned with the number of foreigners who are working illegally as traditional healers in the country. About 20 foreign practitioners are registered at the ministry, but hundreds are working in hotels, spas and other places.

"Foreign healers cannot practice in Indonesia," said Azrul.

Ministerial Decree No. 1076/2003 on traditional healing practices stipulates that foreigners can only work as consultants in a corporate body that already has at least two certified Indonesian healers.

Together with the Ministry of Manpower and Transmigration and the Ministry of Justice and Human Rights, the health ministry will tighten procedures to obtain permits.

"The Ministry of Manpower and Transmigration will only issue a permit for traditional healers after receiving a written recommendation from us," said Azrul.

"We will ask the associations to check the credibility of foreigners who want to work as traditional healers here."