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BPOM to launch hotline against illegal drugs, cosmetics
The Food and Drug Monitoring Agency (BPOM) has announced it will open a hotline to accept complaints over the circulation of illegal cosmetics and medicines marketed online
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he Food and Drug Monitoring Agency (BPOM) has announced it will open a hotline to accept complaints over the circulation of illegal cosmetics and medicines marketed online.
BPOM head Roy Sparringa acknowledged that the agency had limited resources to monitor the circulation of drugs and cosmetics while at the same Indonesia faced excessive marketing of illegal drugs and cosmetics via the Internet.
'We will open a hotline so people can report [the circulation of illegal drugs and cosmetics] to us. It is the people who know a lot about it with their frequent use of social media. I want people to become our 'assistants' because this is for the sake of their own health,' he said as quoted by kompas.com in a statement on Monday.
Roy was speaking at a seminar on the use of jamu (traditional herbal medicine) in complimentary therapy for degenerative diseases held at jamu maker PT Sidomuncul's offices in Ungaran, Semarang regency, over the weekend.
Roy said most illegal drugs and cosmetics marketed online were traditional medicines containing chemical substances and fake cosmetics.
To cut the selling of unregistered drugs and cosmetics, he said, the BPOM needed to take a new approach and cooperate with other parties.
'It's cybercrime and so we will cooperate with the National Police and Interpol. Our duties are to increase the capacity of our personnel in handling cybercrime,' Roy said.
In a joint operation code named Pangea V in May last year, the BPOM identified 302 websites that allegedly distributed illegal and fake drugs, food items and cosmetics. The operation was conducted in 15 cities, including Denpasar, Jakarta, Manado, Medan and Surabaya, from May 13 to 20 as part of a global operation coordinated by Interpol to combat counterfeit drugs, particularly those marketed online, in 110 countries. (fsu/ebf)(++++)
