Manado, September 24, 2024 - PT Bintang Toedjoe, through its Komix Herbal brand, celebrated World Pharmacist Day by holding an educational event for high school students in Manado. With the theme “Healthy Generation, Herbal Generation: It's Time for Gen-Z to Know Herbs!”, the event held at SMA 1 Manado was attended by 50 student representatives from various schools, who received educational materials from the PD of the Indonesian Pharmacists Association (IAI) North Sulawesi, the Center for Food and Drug Control in Manado, BNNP North Sulawesi, and Manado Post media.

The event aimed to raise awareness of the younger generation on the importance of health through the use of herbal medicines. apt Gerald Rundengan, S.Si., MPH, Chairperson and speaker from PD IAI North Sulawesi, explained that Dagusibu is an activity to provide information on how to properly obtain, store, use and dispose of medicines, including herbal medicines.

“Consult with pharmacists at the pharmacy to get drugs, including herbal medicines, which are safe, useful and of high quality,” he said.

In his presentation, the Head of North Sulawesi BNNP represented by Terry Tikoalu, S.Sos., said that schools have a role in P4GN (prevention of eradication of abuse and illicit drug trafficking) efforts by sharing herbal medicine information with the surrounding environment.

The Head of BBPOM in Manado, represented by apt. Dra. Sarinah conveyed that in the use of drugs including herbal medicines, it must pay attention to KLIK Checks, “Check Packaging, Label, Edar License, Expiration of drugs and herbal medicines that will be consumed” she explained.

In addition, the importance of journalistic ethics is also a concern for Gen-Z in relation to herbal medicine. Angel Rumeen explained that the media plays an important role in disseminating health information, including herbal medicine. The risk of spreading hoaxes about herbal medicine is that false information is spread to mislead either with purpose or ignorance. Public education, increased digital literacy and responsible use of media.

Evanie Noer Putri, Public Relations & Community Development Manager of PT Bintang Toedjoe, added that education related to herbal medicine is very important. “Herbal medicine has now become an important part of alternative medicine in Indonesia. Therefore, we must ensure the safety, quality and also the usefulness of herbal medicines circulating in the market that we will consume.” Evanie concluded.

Komix Herbal is an herbal cough medicine made from red ginger and lagundi leaves. Lagundi leaf (Vitex Negundo) is one of the herbs that contain active compounds such as flavonoids, alkaloids, and triterpenoids that have anti-inflammatory, antispasmodic, and expectorant properties. Due to these properties, lagundi leaves have been used in traditional medicine to relieve cough.