***Jamu is Indonesia's answer to ginseng — a unique herbal medicine that is claimed to cure everything from cancers to aging skin. Unlike ginseng, however, jamu has not been promoted internationally. But all that is about to change. Gemini News Service reports on a gathering promotion to make Indonesia the world's leading producer of herbal medicine, by Stephen Carr

INDONESIA all but runs on Jamu, a traditional medicine used as a cure-all throughout the archipelago. It to big business, and now it is being promoted as a major export to rival ginseng.

Jamu is made from ingredients from Indonesia's tropical forests — plant*, grasses, minerals. fungi, roots, tree bark, parts of mammals, birds and reptiles. It comes a* powder*, pills, capsules, bean pods peas, flat seeds, teas, oils and cream*

A multiplicity of remedies is taken for hypertension, colds. 'Am', bronchitis, hangovers, intestinal parasites, stomach aches, over-eating, skin diseases, rashes and pimples The remedies can smooth wrinkled skin, put you to sleep, banish Hstlessness, backaches and •ore bones. There is Jamu for dizziness, bloodshot eyes, urinary tract infections, cancers, hernia* and bad coughs

Jamu outlet* are found In every marketplace with trl-coloured stalls, painted like of brightly coloured packets. Jars and small bottles. There are also shops, stocked as comprehensively as a sizeable chemist with herbal remedies of very description.

You don’t need a prescription to order jamu. You simply tell the vendor what your complaint is and he'll administer the appropriate mixture. It could be some powder put Into a liquid taken with some round pill* and a glass of water. Some doses are given with an egg. wines, or tea*. It often taste* bitter but may be served with a sweet drink or sweetmeat afterwards.

Jamu is cheap, costing an average US 25 cents a dose. A very common method of dispensing it is via the ubiquitous jamu ladies of Java who carry a rattan basket on their backs, loaded with bottles and powders.

Formerly they were the classic preparers and purveyors of a simple range of remedies. They still ply thetr trade and have a ready market. But jamu to also big business. It is made in factories and some of the, bigger producers are combining scientific processes with traditional methods, looking for export market* and improving their packaging and marketing.

Jamu to a major industry in

Indonesia, employing thousands. Its popularity within the country to increasing, surprisingly. given the ever-growing

ation of other ares of life. The number of Jamu factories registered with the Indonesian Ministry of Health in 1075, both large and small scale, was 175. By 1989 the figure had doubled, excluding thousands of jamu manufacturers in the Informal economy.

Mrs Mooryati Sudibyo, chairwoman of the Indonesian Association of Jamu manufacturers (OP Jamu) feels the time is ripe for Indonesia's herbal medicine heritage to find a wider audience.

Jamu is already sold in the other ASEAN countries, Thailand, Malaysia, Singapore, Brunel and the Phllliplnes, as well as in Japan and Taiwan. It has also appeared in the Netherlands and some other European countries. But, says Mrs Sudlbyo: Indonesia lags behind other Asian countries such as China, Korea. Thailand, Japan and Taiwan in promoting Its natural herbal medicine abroad. That's why ginseng is more popular than jamu."

One effort to Introduce jamu to the outside world will be by the Nusantara Jaya Foundation, a non-profit making organisation which is putting together the 20 month Festival of Indonesia In the United States.

It will stage In exhibition on jamu from August 1991 to January 1992. There will be posters, photographs, explanatory texts and samples of the medicine.

There are literally hundreds of jamu. Indonesians who know how to use them often take combinations of different varieties.

Javanese women for instance. who have had numerous children, look amazingly well preserved. They say It is because they take up to 10 jamu internally and externally over a period of 40 days after each delivery. The compounds remove excess blood from the body, they say. contract the uterine muscles, help them to slim, restore vigour and sex appeal.

There are men's jamu to Improve virility, and special potions Tor pedicab cyclists and others who do hard physical labour.

Jelok Temu Is given to fortify year old babies. Women from 20 to 50 take Patmosarf to remain youthful looking, to tighten the skin and revitalise themselves. Women over 40 and worried about losing weight take a special jamu that prevents them from becoming too thin.

The knowledge that goes Into jamu preparation is hundreds of years old. It began a* a secret herbal pharmacopoeia in the central Javanese courts of Surakarta and Yogyakarta.

The formulae that produce Lular paste, made from rice mixed with pulverised bark and flowers, however, has now long been in the public domain.

Its function is to slow wrinkling and the aging process of skin. Similarly Manglr, a yellow powder. Is a common preparation applied to the skin to make ft clear and fragrant.

Some Jamu deserve detailed scientific analysis because they are held to cure serious ailments. Glnjal, for example, is taken for inflamed appendix and its makers say it renders an operation unnecessary. •

Kumis Kucing (cat's whisker plant) acts as a diuretic and can cure kidney stones or urinary tract infections. Tapak Dara (Vinca Alba/Rosea Linn) Is effective for diabetes and hypertension. There are Jamu for late menstruation or taken to ensure the cycle comes on time. The medicine is obviously very potent because it comes with a warning that it may cause abortions If the patient Is one to two months pregnant. Young girls take Kokok after their monthly cycle to purify the blood and make the face and eyes bright again.

Mrs Sudibyo who owns one of the country's leading Jamu factories feels that foreigners may be discouraged from trying Indonesian traditional medicine because they are not confident about quality control product and doage standardisation, and possible unscientific preparation methods.

In Indonesia, one of the most populous nations on earth, 80 per cent of the people live in villages, remote and mountainous areas. For most of them there Is no alternative to traditional medicine.

The government's national drug policy Is that folk medicine should be used In mass social health care. It has a hand in the production and distribution of Jamu.

The minerals, flora and fauna that make up the ingredients, as well as the knowledge that transforms them Into effective curative agents are valuable assets whose po tential is increasing with growing overseas Interest In products. Tm sure Jamu has bright prospects" said Mrs Sudibyo "and that more and more people including those abroad will continue to use it."

She and her fellow producers are hoping that Indonesia will become the world's leading producer of herbal medicine. — GEMINI NEWS.