ARGUMENTOS

Traditional Medicine

Fact sheet N ° 134

December 2008

Facts and figures

In some Asian and African countries, 80% of the population depends on traditional medicine for primary health care.

Of the various forms of traditional medicine are the most lucrative herbal medicine, generating billions of dollars in revenue.

Traditional medicine can treat various infectious and chronic diseases: the discovery and isolation of artemisinin from Artemisia annua L., a plant used in China for almost 2000 years, served for new antimalarials.

The existence in herbal products in international markets counterfeit, substandard or adulterated constitutes a serious threat to patient safety.

Over 100 countries have regulations for herbal medicines.

Traditional medicine is the sum total of knowledge, skills and practices based on the theories, beliefs and experiences indigenous to different cultures that are used to maintain health and prevent, diagnose, improve or treat physical and mental.

Traditional medicine has been adopted by other populations (outside its indigenous culture) is often called alternative or complementary medicine.

Herbal medicines include herbs, herbal materials, herbal preparations and finished herbal products whose active ingredients parts of plants or other vegetable matter.

Who uses traditional medicine?

In some Asian and African countries, 80% of the population depends on traditional medicine for primary health care.

In many developed countries, 70% to 80% of the population has used some some form of complementary or alternative medicine (eg, acupuncture).

Herbal treatments are the most popular form of traditional medicine, are highly lucrative in the international market. In 2003-2004 Annual revenues of $ 5 billion. Only in China sales of products totaled U.S. $ 14,000 million in 2005. In Brazil, the income generated by herbal medicine totaled U.S. $ 160 million in 2007.

Problems

Some communities for thousands of years using traditional medicine. When traditional medicine practices are adopted by new populations there are problems.

International diversity. The practices of traditional medicine have been adopted in different cultures and regions without the parallel advance of international standards and methods to evaluate them.

National policy and regulation. There are not many countries with a national policy on the matter. The heterogeneity in the definitions

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