"Traditional healers must have STPT, in accordance with government regulations," head of the communication and public services bureau of the ministry, Siti Nadia Tarmizi, said here in response to reports of traditional healer “Ida Dayak’s” rumored healing abilities, which have gone viral on social media.
The regulations requiring traditional healers to get certified include Governmental Regulation (PP) No.103 of 2014 concerning traditional health services and Ministerial Regulation No. 15 of 2018 concerning complementary traditional health services.
They further include Ministerial Regulation No. 61/2016 on empirical traditional health services, Ministerial Regulation No. 37/2017 on integrated traditional health services, and Law No.36/2014 on Health Workers.
Tarmizi said the Health Ministry and related parties have an interest in coaching traditional healers to ensure the safety of patients opting for traditional healing practices.
"We will conduct coaching of traditional medicine (practitioners)," she added.
Indonesia has a diverse cultural heritage, which includes traditional healing practices, most of which still need to be researched and supported empirically, like modern medicine, she said.
The ministry has set criteria for traditional healers based on their skills, for instance, the skill of mixing certain ingredients for treatment, she explained.
"Based on that, we do coaching for them so that people are not harmed. For instance, someone with cancer, because of (choosing) traditional treatment, they are late to be treated, as now, there is a method that can 100 percent cure it if the treatment is carried out in the early stages," she said.
“Ida Dayak,” a traditional healer from East Kalimantan, has currently gone viral on social media with some people claiming she can cure certain conditions such as broken bones, a herniated disc (HNP), and stroke, with a special oil.
The healer, whose full name is Ida Andriyani, is running her practice in Depok, West Java, and has been attracting many patients from across the archipelago.
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Translator: Andi F, Kenzu
Editor: Rahmad Nasution
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