28/08/2017
MEDAN – Indonesian culture holds a lot of medical knowledge that is beneficial to health. Traditional treatment should be integrated with modern health practices. The reason, there are some cases that can be cured of modern medicine and can be cured with traditional medicine. One of them is the practice of folk healing treatment or shamanism.
This was conveyed by Prof. Masanori Yoshida, Ph.D., in front of Social Anthropology Graduate student at Medan State University (Unimed) in public lecture, at Casa Mesra Library, Medan, on Sunday (27/8).
“All ethnic groups in Indonesia have folk healing practices, some dukun adopt practices outside their ethnicity,” Yoshida said.
This opinion is based on research conducted in Tebing Tinggi City in 1985 ago. Folk healing is a culture that can not be abandoned by society. Based on his observations, there are still many people who go to a traditional healer despite medical treatment. He suggested, this traditional medical knowledge should be preserved.
According to Professor Nihon University of Japan, these cultural treatment habits are like carried away in the modern medical world. In Indonesia, while in an ICU chamber, he observed the patient’s family creating an annoying sound which he considered part of traditional medicine. On the contrary, this pattern is very different from the culture in Japan that is used to the silence.
The practice of folk healing, according to Yoshida is not just about medical treatment, but some are non-medical. For example, rituals in the life cycle such as weddings. “There is also a request for help by shamans when losing a job, hostile to friends, divorce, assisted mate, promotion work, worship in the field of agriculture, and much more”, said Yoshida.
Meanwhile, Chairman of the Unimed Graduate Anthropology Study Program, Dr. Hidayat, M.Si said, the public lecture was made in order to add research studies of anthropology students and the world of health. “This general seminar deals with the world of medical anthropology (medical anthropology). Relation, medical anthropology is part of the branch of anthropology. This study is actually not new, but it may just have not been much studied, “he explained.
The presentation presented by Prof. Masanori, he added, is a private study related to medical anthropology or medical anthropology. “In our (Indonesia), this field is still a bit of a review. Only a few of the forces in Unimed Graduate Anthropology take on the theme, among them the study of Karo ethnic health, or ethnic Batak, “he explained.
For this reason, he hopes that this lecture will be an extension of insight that the study of health anthropology is a very important material. “We are like a shortage (research study). Though this field is also a very important thing. If in developed countries, like Japan, the field of health anthropology is very important. But in our (Indonesia), not yet, “he said.
He continued, health is related to cultural elements. “There are parts that are removed from our medical education tradition, which only leads to the medical element. The sick person, many factors, and can be associated with culture. There are those who can recover not even the consumption of drugs but feel confident that cause a happy effect. The happiness can not be solved by medicine, not medical, “he said while adding earlier Prodi Ansos also brought in a number of professors abroad, including Prof Dominik Bonatz Germany, Uly Kozok United States and others. (Unimed Public Relations).
