Packaging of Herbal Medicine and its Connection to the Acceptance Rate of the Urban Population Viewed from a Biological, Agricultural, Economic, Business and Communication Perspective

Abstract

This article discusses the packaging of traditional herbal medicine and its acceptance rate from a biological, agricultural, economic, business and communication perspective. With the many herbal medicines on market in Indonesia and across the global, many questions are emerging about the content, plant type, biological aspects, the economic value and the appropriate information necessary for public knowledge. All this requires a thorough discussion in this rapidly changing universe. Since, medicinal components are known to be of value but with many side effects, though advantages in most case out-weigh disadvantages [side effects]. For instance, the use of herbals can be found in “brotowali” which cures fever, rheumatism, and itches. Further, herbal medicines can also help to facilitate a cure of appendicitis, typhoid, blood vomit, diabetes, cancer, leprosy, whooping cough, stone bladder, syphilis, skin infection, blood feses, bloody and mucus excretion and many other such illnesses. Though in the previous, traditional herbal medicines were known for their being cheap, with limited chemical content and their easiness to find. Today, it is becoming the opposite. High concentration of chemical contents is now being discovered in many self-proclaimed traditional herbal medicines at times with high risks to life. The prices are no longer for all the masses but for a few who can afford. Modern industries have turned herbal products into expensive medicines especially for the middle and lower class urban population. From a communication perspective, though modern industries have taken-up the job of transforming the herbal products, society still has a negative perception that tradition herbs are but an extension of the paranormal/ or witch doctor. In this case, in the present paper we wish to explain from a multidiscipline perspective the information surrounding herbal medicine more so from the packaging angle and the acceptance rate of the urban population.