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Jakarta Post

Uncontrolled alternative medicines cause concern

As the number of traditional healers on the island soars into the thousands, far exceeding the number of medical doctors, the administration is troubled that the majority are practicing without a license

Ni Komang Erviani (The Jakarta Post)
Denpasar
Fri, June 6, 2014

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Uncontrolled alternative medicines cause concern

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s the number of traditional healers on the island soars into the thousands, far exceeding the number of medical doctors, the administration is troubled that the majority are practicing without a license.

Bali Health Agency head Ketut Suarjaya told The Jakarta Post recently that the proliferation of alternative medicine was alarming. He argued that this was of great concern because the public was using traditional plants and herbs that had not been certified.

'€œWe'€™ve found one traditional physician who '€˜prescribes'€™ his customers herbs that actually contain antibiotics,'€ he said, explaining that antibiotics could only be bought with a doctor'€™s prescription.

The agency recorded that by May more than 3,000 alternative practitioners were operating in the province, but only 127 had been issued with licenses. In comparison, the agency noted, the island only had around 1,500 doctors.

Karangasem has 572 alternative medicine practitioners and Jembrana has 498, while other regencies have around 250.

The illegal practitioners include traditional healers, masseurs and acupuncturists.

Suarjaya said the agency would form a special team to handle the issue. The team will be tasked with identifying and recording traditional clinics and their license status.

Following this, Suarjaya said, those found to lack the appropriate paperwork would have to obtain a license.

'€œWe will coordinate with all regional administrations to ensure we collect the most recent data, because they have the authority to issue it.'€

The team will also monitor the clinics afterward and offer training to those that were found to not have a license as well as those that had. '€œWe will start development programs, like training on how to treat patients safely,'€ Suarjaya said.

The agency would enforce harsh penalties on illegal clinic that continued operating. '€œShould a clinic refuse to process its license, we will cease its operations,'€ Suarjaya stressed.

In February, the agency was forced to shut down six illegal traditional clinics discovered during a three-day survey across Bali. One of them, however, was able to resume operation after being trained by the agency'€™s officers and receiving a license.

'€œWe will continue to monitor all alternative medicine practitioners, to ensure that people are safe from illegal and hazardous alternative medicine,'€ he said.

In May, the Indonesian Doctors Association (IDI) Bali chapter also conveyed concerns over the practice. During a coordination meeting on alternative medicine in Sanur, it urged the Indonesian Broadcasting Commission (KPI) to ban television and radio advertisements promoting alternative medicine.

Association secretary I Made Sudarmaja alleged that adverts such as these misled the public. '€œIt poses a danger to society if these ads are aired. We should not let the general public be fooled by the misleading information,'€ he said.

Many clinics offering alternative treatment have advertisments, mainly featuring testimony from supposed former patients, claiming alternative medicine had cured them of grave diseases such as HIV/AIDS. The IDI pointed out that none of the clinics had presented scientifically sound research to back up their claims.

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