Phytopharmaceutical development is one of the priority targets in health transformation, which is included in the 3rd pillar, namely the transformation of the health security system to optimize the great potential of natural raw materials in Indonesia and to encourage economic growth. However, clinical trials are still one of the challenges in the development of phytopharmaceutical products due to the limited types and number of research subjects, lack of human resource capabilities and the long and costly implementation of clinical trials.
To follow up on these challenges, the Directorate of Pharmaceutical and Medical Device Resilience held an activity to Strengthen Hospital Capacity for the Implementation of Phytopharmaca Clinical Trials in Semarang on 21 - 23 November 2022 which was attended by 59 offline participants consisting of general practitioners, herbal medicine certification doctors and pharmacists from 21 type B, type C and type D government hospitals in the provinces of Central Java, Yogyakarta, East Java, West Java, South Sulawesi, Southeast Sulawesi, South Sumatra and Bali; Traditional Medicine Industry participants and central participants.

In his report, the Head of the Working Team for the Development and Facilitation of Downstreaming of Raw Materials and Preparations of Phytopharmaceuticals and Domestic Biological Products, Refiandes, said that this activity aims to convey policies and procedures/mechanisms for clinical trials of phytopharmaceutical products and increase the capacity of health workers in carrying out clinical trials of phytopharmaceutical products in hospitals.
Director of Pharmaceutical and Medical Device Resilience Roy Himawan, had the opportunity to give directions as well as officially open this activity. The Director said that Indonesia's high biodiversity is a potential so it is hoped that phytopharmaca raw materials can be produced locally. “My hope is that there will be more research and clinical trials of natural raw materials that we can do so that we can produce phytopharmaceutical products independently in the country,” said the Director.
The Director also conveyed the direction that there are 491 Herbal Medicine Saintification Doctors in health facilities and Herbal Medicine Saintification networks from 14 agencies that can be cooperated with regarding strengthening the capacity of clinical trials of phytopharmaceutical products and encouraging hospitals to become hospitals. Clinical Research Unit (CRU) for phytopharmaceutical products in line with the draft PMK on CRC and CRU that is being made.

Clinical trials are research activities involving human subjects that are important to ensure product efficacy and safety. Clinical trials must be conducted in accordance with Good Clinical Practice standards. In addition, one of the keys to the progress of clinical trials in Indonesia is the quality of management of research sites that are responsible for coordinating the implementation of clinical trials. With the implementation of strengthening the capacity of hospitals for phytopharmaca clinical trials, it is hoped that it can overcome the challenges of clinical trials in Indonesia, especially related to limited understanding of the Good Clinical Trial Method and limited health facilities that can be used for clinical trials so as to increase the capacity of phytopharmaca research and clinical trials in Indonesia.