Viral Herbal Remedy to Prevent Tuberculosis, Expert: Misleading Information

Social media was recently abuzz with a statement from an influencer claiming that tuberculosis (TB) can be prevented and treated with herbal medicine. This claim about herbal TB remedies has been deemed highly misleading to the public.

In response, Prof Tjandra Yoga Aditama, Chairman of the Honour Council of the Indonesian Lung Doctors Association (PDPI), emphasised that such misleading information could lead TB patients to avoid using anti-tuberculosis drugs (OAT), which have been scientifically proven effective and tested over many years.

If OAT is not used, negative consequences arise, such as the TB disease not being cured, worsening to severe levels or even death, and the disease continuing to spread to those around.

“Even if OAT was initially used correctly and then replaced with incorrect alternatives, drug resistance can occur, including multi-drug resistance,” said Tjandra in his statement on Wednesday (18/3).

He explained that the anti-tuberculosis drugs (OAT) currently used by countries worldwide are determined based on in-depth research, such as double-blind case-control trials, with results from multi-centre studies conducted in various countries, and thorough analysis by international experts at the WHO as well as national experts.

“Therefore, their scientific value and validity are very high,” he stated.

Meanwhile, the OAT used in Indonesia and other countries has been employed for years and has demonstrated cure rates as expected.

Tjandra stressed that for accurate and scientifically tested health information, the public should refer to official bodies, such as the WHO at the global level, or the Ministry of Health in each country, as well as professional health expert groups like PDPI.