Altered video falsely touts salt water as diabetes treatment
- Published on March 20, 2025 at 08:43
- Updated on March 20, 2025 at 11:40
- 4 min read
- By AFP Indonesia
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"Diabetes will be gone forever," reads an Indonesian-language Facebook post on March 4, 2025.
It features a video appearing to show actor Raffi Ahmad, who President Prabowo Subianto appointed special envoy for young people, touting salt water as a remedy for diabetes.
"Today, the Indonesian government officially includes this method in the national programme to combat diabetes," he appears to say.
The clip, watched more than 110,000 times, then shifts to Tony Setiobudi, an orthopaedic surgeon supposedly saying saline water works because "the main cause of diabetes is magnesium deficiency" (archived link).
The post also includes a link -- only accessible using an Indonesian IP address -- that directs to an advertising page.
The manipulated video ricocheted in Facebook posts in Indonesia, which saw its diabetes prevalence increase in recent years (archived here and here).
Contrary to the posts, there is currently no cure for the chronic disease, multiple experts say (archived here and here).
But several interventions can improve patient outcomes, according to the World Health Organization's information page about diabetes (archived link)
These include diet, physical activity, medication, and regular screening for damage to the eyes, kidneys and feet to facilitate early treatment.
Pradana Soewondo, a consultant for endocrinology and metabolism at the University of Indonesia Hospital, also refuted claims diabetes is caused by the lack of magnesium (archived link).
"Type 2 diabetes mellitus, which occurs frequently, is caused by insulin resistance," he said.
Several small studies show some people with diabetes experience magnesium deficiency but "this is not a universal [experience]," said Iqbal Mochtar, a member of the Indonesian Medical Association (IDI).
And drinking salt water would not treat magnesium deficiency, he added.
"If there are people who lack magnesium, not only diabetics, but also normal people who lack magnesium, they must consume the right source of magnesium from green vegetables, from fish and some of which are not from salt."
Manipulated video
A reverse image search on Google found the first clip was taken from a podcast uploaded on Raffi Ahmad's official YouTube account on June 11, 2021 (archived link).
He talked with his wife about family life but did not mention diabetes in the episode.
The other clip was previously uploaded September 11, 2019 on Tony Setiobudi's YouTube channel (archived link).
He discussed sunshine and vitamin D but also did not mention diabetes.
There have been no official reports as of March 20 the Indonesian added drinking saltwater as part of its diabetes treatment programme. It currently includes free tests for checking blood sugar levels and disseminating information on managing the condition (archived here and here).
AFP has previously debunked similar misinformation claiming that a former health minister promoted medication for hypertension.
This story was corrected to add a quote in line 12 and to fix an error in line 13 which misattributed the quote to a different doctor.March 20, 2025 This story was corrected to add a quote in line 12 and to fix an error in line 13 which misattributed the quote to a different doctor.
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