PESHAWAR, May 1: Chief Minister Akram Durrani has directed the departments concerned to make efforts for the preservation of medicinal plants and species so that low-priced herbal drugs could be manufactured locally.

He was speaking at a one-day symposium "Unani medicine: expanding medical horizon", held under the auspices of Pakistan Association for Eastern Medicine (PAEM) here on Saturday.

"The forest and agriculture departments should identify the medicinal plants and species and increase their harvesting," he said, adding that the MMA government had allocated Rs337 million to open Tibb-i-Islami and homeopathy dispensaries at all the district headquarters hospitals in the province.

"We are also considering to open wards at public sector hospitals, where the patients could be treated by Hakims," he said.

Mr Durrani said that he would use his office for a legislation to regulate the drugs business and asked the stakeholders to furnish suggestions regarding development of the herbal medicines.

Sadia Rashid, chief patron of the PAEM and president of the Hamdard Foundation, said that the foundation was carrying forward the mission of Hakim Mohammad Said by serving the humanity and promotion of Unani education in the country.

Hamdard University, she said, would complete 100 years of its existence in 2006. The varsity had signed MoUs with universities in South Africa and Japan, where Pakistani students were being offered doctorates degrees.

Ms Rashid, who is the daughter of Hakim Said, demanded that the NWFP government should launch classes of herbal medicines in the colleges and a research institute should be set up to produce qualified Hakims.

"We can expand the scope of alternate medicines and export raw material and herbal medicines to neighbouring countries, if the government patronise manufacturers and put in place laws that could regulate all the affairs of the Unani drugs," she said.

Dr Navaidul Zafar, patron of the PAEM, said that the federal government should legislate on regulating the manufacturing of the herbal medicines.The law, he said was needed to make the drugs safe for consumption and minimise the side-affects.

He said that till 1965, the Hakims used to carry out diagnosis, treatment and manufacture drugs also, but after the 1965 Act, they restricted themselves only to diagnosis and treatment, and left the manufacturing to others.