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Health care stakeholders call for more herbal medicine, stem cell research
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Kambali pushes a wheelbarrow filled with bottles of 'jamu' (herbal medicine) on his way to the Papringan market in Ngadiprono village, Central Java. JP/P.J.Leo (JP/P.J.Leo)
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takeholders in Indonesia’s pharmaceutical industry are advocating for more research and development of herbal medicines to unlock the country’s potential as a plant-based medicine producer, while scientists are also pushing for further development of stem cell treatments to boost the country’s health care sector.
Despite the country’s large potential as plant-based medicine market, experts and players in the pharmaceutical industry have said that a lack of synergy among stakeholders, including in research and manufacturing, has hindered the development of herbal drugs.
Herbal medicine manufacturer PT Sido Muncul director Irwan Hidayat said that Indonesia, with its vast biodiversity, had abundant natural plant resources for herbal medicines, but that the scientific research to explore this potential remained insufficient.
“The numerous studies by academic institutions have often failed to meet the needs of the industry or have been cancelled due to a lack of funding and resources,” Irwan said in during a discussion recently.
More than 30,000 of the more than 40,000 plants in the world that have medicinal properties can be found in Indonesia, making the country a prime destination for herbal medicine research, according to the Indonesian Institute of Sciences (LIPI).
“[However], we are only making use of 350 plant species as herbal medicines, while there are thousands of other [plant resources] we have yet to explore,” Irwan said.
The Food and Drugs Monitoring Agency (BPOM) categorizes herbal medicines into three categories: jamu, which has been consumed by Indonesians for generations and has proven health benefits; standard herbal medicines and phytopharmaceuticals, herbal medicines equivalent to modern pharmaceutical drugs.
