Sido Muncul : Herbal Medicine Factory Matters on Educational Development

On March 30, 2017 ago I was lucky to visit one of famous herbal medicine (or commonly said as Jamu) factory in Indonesia, Sido Muncul. The factory is approximately one hour’s driving from my house

For whom  never consume or even know about it, what actually Jamu is?

For those who choose medical treatment, after going to the doctor, they will follow the steps of treatment by consuming drugs prescribed by the doctor.

But nowadays more and more people try to maintain good health through variety of herbs. In Indonesia, we have  various spices and plants as materials for herbal medicine.

So, what is the contribution of herbal medicine for economic growth  of the country then?

Traditional medicine and herbal medicine industry has recorded an encouraging achievement in the last few years. It was apparent from country’s turn over that continue to increase from year to year. In 2015, the sales reached Rp 16 trillion  and in 2016 was estimated to reach Rp 18 trillion (source  : ekonomi.metrotvnews.com).

Currently, there are 1247 herbal industries  consisting of 129 traditional medicine industries and the rest are  including the traditional medicine medium businesses and small traditional medicine spread in regions of Indonesia, especially in Java. The traditional medicine industry capable of absorbing 15 million labor force, 3 million of whom were absorbed in the herbal medicine industry serve as drugs and 12 million more absorbed in the herbal medicine industry has evolved toward food, beverage, cosmetics, spa and aromatherapy.

PT. Industri Jamu dan Farmasi Sido Muncul, Tbk which established in 1951 is also contributing to the improvement of economic society through herbal medicine (jamu) industry. One more special thing about this company : Sido Muncul shows its concern consistently on herbal education. So far, this factory has held some cooperation in the field of education with Diponegoro University (Semarang), Sanata Dharma University (Yogyakarta) and Maranatha University (Bandung).

On Thursday March 30, 2017 Sido Muncul signed a memorandum of understanding with the University of Muhammadiyah Jakarta (UMJ). The MOU will be in force for 3 years cooperation on education, research and public service. The MOU was signed by Director of Sido Muncul Mr. Irwan Hidayat,  and dr. Slamet Sudi Santoso, M. PD. Ked representing the Faculty of Medical UMJ.

At the same time, groups of medical and health courses of UMJ also took a visit to the factory of Sido Muncul. The visit was conducted to various laboratories and production facilities. It was expected in the future herbal curriculum will be developing in the Faculty of Medical of UMJ,  so it can support public service activities related to health problems.

The director of Sido Muncul, Irwan Hidayat, stated that Sido Muncul is ready to share knowledge with other people, including with the academics. He hope more people will know the benefits of herbal plants which were used as raw material of Jamu. To maintain healthiness,  we should understand  various uses of herbal plants surround us.

All thumbs up for you, Mr. Irwan. Your generousity on sharing herbal knowledges will be memorable, ever.

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