“BPOM has applied their duties well. Moreover, medicines or foods with a brand that include a claim of benefits circulating in the community must be guaranteed its safety,” Heru Sasongko explained on Saturday (5/3/2022)

Further, he stated that one indicator that guarantees the safety of drugs and foods is registered in BPOM. However, Heru mentioned that some registered products could be faked. Therefore, the joint operation from BPOM is vital to be held to ensure the safety of products circulating in the community.

Safety Standard of Drug and Food Products

Heru stated that medicinal chemicals are often found in traditional medicines or illegal food products to bring a specific effect. However, he reminded the side effects of long-term usage that often become the root issues for human health. Concerning the paracetamol found in packaged coffee, Heru stated that the medicine is often used to reduce mild pain, flu, and fever, including headaches. Paracetamol could be purchased easily without a prescription from a doctor because it is an over-the-counter drug category. Another drug found by BPOM in packaged coffee products, Sildenafil, is a drug to treat impotence or erectile dysfunction in men.

“But Sildenafil has a dangerous effect on health (if mixed into packaged coffee). This mixture could cause seizures, chest pain, even pain from uncontrolled doses,” he explained.

Heru added that there are no beverages and coffee with Sildenafil that are allowed by BPOM because Sildenafil is a potent drug whose usage is supervised by a doctor.

“Sildenafil is only used for therapy purposes prescribed by doctors. The illegal usage of the drug in the form of any mixture has adverse risk on health,” Heru explained. Humas UNS

Editor: Dwi Hastuti

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The idea was promoted by the team of Diploma Program (D-3) in Pharmacy led by Heru Sasongko, S.Farm.,M.Sc., Apt., and members: Prof. Drs. Sutarno, M.Sc., Ph.D.; Yeni Farida,S.Farm., M.Sc., Apt.; M. Fiqri Zulpadly Mh, S.Farm., M. Biomed., Apt.; and Dian Eka Ermawati, M.Sc., Apt. Their innovative product was a non-medical face mask with aromatherapy funded under a community service scheme with Non-APBN funding UNS 2021. Aromatherapy is expected to attract the community members to obey the regulation, improve comfort, and use the face mask.

The team collaborated with several partners during the development process, including Jamsaren Apothecary Surakarta as a pilot project site, MSME of mask production in Surakarta, and Rumah Atsiri Indonesia, Karanganyar as a natural oil producer. The mask has also been tested for the endurance of aromatherapy in the mask and respondents’ feedback on the comfort of the mask.

“Most of the respondents said that it is comfortable and like the aromatherapy mask,” Heru stated.

Currently, the team is conducting development and improvement on the mask while waiting for the result of IPR registration result. The team hoped that they could register the mask as a medical mask in the future and market the mask to the wider community. Humas UNS

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Even though so, this delay should not hamper the teachers’ spirit to continue the face-to-face learning preparation, which includes hand sanitizer that will be crucial to the implementation of the face-to-face learning. Responding to this, the Diploma in Pharmacy Study Program, Vocational School (SV), Universitas Sebelas Maret (UNS) Surakarta, through the Applied Pharmacy Research Group, organized continuous assistance for schools to produce hand sanitizer independently.

The assistance was held in Junior High School (SMP) Muhammadiyah 1 Prambanan. The program was led by Wisnu Kundarto and was supported by five members, namely, Dian Eka Ermawati, Anif Nur Artanti, Sholichah Rahmani, Heru Sasongko, and M. Fiqri Zulpadly. The continuous assistance program aims to train the teachers in SMP 1 Muhammadiyah Prambanan to produce hand sanitizer with essential oil added.

“This community service program is a continuous process, which involves the transfer of knowledge. The training was held on June 5^th, 2021, with a follow-up event on June 19^th, 2021 to this day,” Wisnu Kundarto explains. Wisnu adds that the outcome of the events is satisfactory because the school has succeeded to produce their hand sanitizer with lavender fragrance under the trademark ‘Surya.’

UNS Team hopes that the product can invoke calmness through its aromatherapy, other than eliminating germs. The Headmaster of the SMP Muhammadiyah 1 Prambanan, Daswati Rofiatun Sahifah reveals that her party was enthusiastic in welcoming this program. She admits that the 2021 Community Partnership Program has greatly helped them.

“Currently we develop other variants such as tea tree fragrance, rosemary, lemon, and sweet orange after the new student admission session completed,” she concluded.

Currently, the product is only produced in limited quantity and available through limited distribution for the school academic members. Humas UNS

Reporter: Ida Fitriyah
Editor: Dwi Hastuti

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The Coordinator of the event, Yeni Farida, S.Farm., M.Sc, stated that students were introduced to various types, availability, usage, and the proper way to acquire medicines. The introduction aims to prevent medication error in the community as the mission of Gerakan Masyarakat Cerdas Menggunakan Obat (Gema Cermat) (Movement for Smart Community in Medication Usage). Students were also introduced to the types of plants with medicinal properties in their surroundings.

“We hope this education program (will) prevent children from misusing drugs. Especially narcotics and other illegal drugs,” Yeni explained, Friday (4/6/2021).

Yeni added that students showed great enthusiasm toward the program even though it was held through the Zoom Cloud Meetings. Students were active during the question-and-answer session and simple experiments under the supervision of the team. The experiment was held using tools and materials that they could find in their home so that they could try it at home. The team also prepared various educational media such as animation videos, comics, and activity-based textbooks.

“The video and comic were sent in the form of a file, and textbooks were shared with students through their classroom teachers. The use of various learning methods is expected to attract student’s interest in learning the materials,” Yeni added.

To conclude the event, the team conducted an Acil election from the representatives of each class. This election is an appreciation for students for participating in the program. Yeni hoped that their program would benefit the community and students could apply the knowledge in their daily lives and invite people around them to practice healthy lifestyles. Humas UNS

Reporter: Kaffa hidayati
Editor: Dwi Hastuti

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