Central Bangka To Develop Herbal Treatment

Koba, Bangka Belitung, March 15 (Antara) - Central Bangka District in Bangka Belitung province will develop herbal treatment as complement to medical treatment. "Herbal treatment which stems from the local wisdom has many benefits when it is given in a appropriate way. It is not contrary to medical treatment," Head of Central Bangka Health Office dr. Bahrun Siregar said here on Thursday. Dr. Bahrun said a number of hospitals in Central Bangka have planned to apply traditional treatment as complement to modern treatment. "Obviously, not all kinds of traditional or herbal treatment can be applied together with modern treatment. But I think we need to conduct a research first," he pointed out. Bahrun said spices can be used as complement to medical treatment. "For example, red ginger can be used to ease breathing and reduce rheumatic symptoms," he said. As an initial step to implement the program, the health office has asked public health service posts (puskesmas) to have traditional plant gardens, he said. "Some puskesmas have done so. They have small gardens planted with herbal plants. In the future, we will encourage the public to have such gardens," he said. Data from the Health Ministry show 80 percent of people in developing countries relies on traditional medicine as primary health care. Meanwhile, the results of national health survey conducted in 2010 show 59.12 percent of the Indonesian population is jamu (herbal medicine) consumers and 95 percent of the Indonesian people use jamu for herbal medicine. Therefore, the government plans to develop medicinal plants and jamu as main alternative to improve health, prevent and cure diseases, especially degenerative diseases and metabolic disorders, as well as for rehabilitation purposes, he said.