Page 32 - EBOOK_Jamu: The Ancient Indonesian Art of Herbal Healing

Physicians’ Association to coordinate with the traditional medicine producers.

Traditional medicine received a further boost during Indonesia’s War of
Independence. Orthodox medicine was in short supply, so doctors turned to
herbal remedies to treat patients. Later, Indonesia’s newly installed President
Sukarno issued the Proclamation of Independence, which stated that the nation
must be self-supporting. In accordance with this directive, imported, modern
drugs became extremely difficult to obtain and people were thrown back on their
own resources. Many returned to their parents’ and grandparents’ age-old, tried-
and-tested remedies. Since that time, interest in traditional medicine has
blossomed, and a whole series of conferences, exhibitions, seminars and
scientific studies have been organized.

During the last two decades of the 20th century, development of Indonesia’s
traditional medicine industry accelerated. Frequently under siege from politics,
competition from imported drugs and a severe shortage of funding for research,
the industry has always returned in force following each setback. To introduce
some order to the unregulated industry, steps have been taken to implement
modern, clinical trials to back performance claims with scientific data, and to
standardize the burgeoning industry in such a way that it may be accepted
nationally and considered on an international level. With the creation of eight
herbal medicine testing centres in the early 1980s, the endorsement of further
research centres and the growing interest amongst medical professionals, the
foundations are now in place for international recognition of jamu.

This process has been further helped by an increased demand for jamu from
outside Indonesia’s borders, especially in the developed world, which in turn
reflects a general trend towards more natural methods of preventative medicine.
Alternative therapies are no longer treated with the suspicion they received even