MODERNIZING TRADITIONAL MEDICINES IN JAVA: REGULATIONS, PRODUCTION AND DISTRIBUTION NETWORKS

Abstract

Traditional medicine (jamu) in Indonesia is continuously transforming due to a number of factors including the growing presence of the biomedical system promoted by the government and drug manufacturers, the requirement

of

more standardized and scientifically-proven medicinal products, and the declining popularity of herbal medicine among the young generation. Traditional medicines producers need to

adjust

continuously to the changing environment.

This article seeks to examine these transformations by taking Java as its focus of attention. There are two major reasons for this choice. First, the island of Java is home for many traditional medicines producers, both small-scale, home-based industries and largescale,

company-based industries. Second, the largest proportion of the users of traditional medicines and distribution networks are also found in the island. The major questions the article seeks to address are: (1) what regulations

have been set in place by the state authorities

with regard to the production and distribution of traditional medicines in Java? How do the producers and the related partied respond the regulations?; (2) what efforts have been made by the producers of traditional medicines to accept modernization challenges and to improve the performance of their products;

(3) how traditional medicines circulate and what are their distribution networks?