KARACHI, Sept 13: Scientists from OIC countries have suggested establishment of a network of researchers, government functionaries, industrialists and other stake-holders in the Islamic world for sustainable utilization of medicinal plants and promotion of traditional medicines.
At the concluding session of the six-day COMSTECH workshop on “Development of Medicines from Plants” on Saturday, scientists, experts in natural products and plants medicine, government officials, policy makers and industrialists agreed that the Muslim world was blessed with tremendous medicinal plant resources and unbroken tradition of the use of medicinal plants for health-care purposes.
The stressed the need for developing talents, enhancing knowledge about plants and preparing health-care products locally instead of exporting phyto-plants and importing herbal medicine from European countries.
Some foreign scientists also suggested the use of HEJ Research Institute of Chemistry as a focal place for interaction by the scientists of the Islamic world working on traditional medicines.
Chairman of the concluding session, Dr Anwar Nasim, who is also the adviser on science to COMSTECH, observed that the recommendations to declare HEJ Institute as a network centre would be placed before other members of the OIC later for consensus and proper arrangements. He appreciated the participants of the session for their suggestions.
Acting director of HEJ Research Institute of Chemistry, Dr Muhammad Iqbal Choudhary, welcomed the proposal of the participants and their reliance on scientific infrastructure available at his institute. He said HEJ was already facilitating scientists and students from other countries, including those of the Muslim countries, working in the filed of natural chemistry products.
The participants observed that the majority of the Muslims relied on herbal medicines for their health-care needs, and an organized research and development work in that field would lead to better health-care results.
Pakistani scientists and officials called for conservation of medicinal plants, database about plants being exported, initiating process for value addition, collection of indigenous knowledge about phyto-medicines and sharing of information by all Muslim countries.
It was also recommended that small enterprises should be developed right at the plant source so that economic support could be extended to local communities blessed with the medicinal plants.
Foreign experts stressed the need for using phyto-chemistry for product development as mere export of raw medicinal plant and import of finish products would not prove cost-effective.
A scientist from Egypt called for developing a website on the flora available in the Islamic world. Malaysian scientists stressed the need of monitoring the existing and future networking with regard to medicinal plant and inducting competent persons in the system.
A couple of speakers also stressed the need for increasing public knowledge of available flora species, plant-based medicine and new discoveries. They held that the media could generate public interest in medicinal plants products and make them aware of the benefits of medicinal plant resources and their conservation.