Traditional Medicine in Asia

Traditional Medicine in Asia
This definition captures many salient
features of most non-Western systems of
medicine that look at the human body and
the multifarious ailments from a holistic
perspective. In a few countries, including
several South-East Asian nations,
traditional medical education is organized
on a well-structured basis; the definition
does not specifically exclude this aspect
but the way it is formulated may tend to
create the impression that instruction in
traditional medicine takes place in an
informal context. Another possible
limitation is contained in that part of the
definition which speaks of traditional
medicine being based exclusively on past
experience and knowledge. There is a
growing, albeit relatively slowly, body of
empirical evidence of the properties of
some herbal medicines looking especially
at inter alia long-term toxicity.
A broader definition is to be found in
the law of Guinea. “Traditional Guinean
medicine is the sum total of all technical
knowledge involving the preparation and
utilization of substances, measures, and
practices in use, whether explicable or not
at the current state of the art, resulting
from the sociocultural and religious
foundations of Guinean communities,
which is based on practical experience and
on traditions handed down from generation
to generation, whether verbally or in
writing, and which is used in the diagnosis,
prevention or elimination of an imbalance
of well-being of a physical, mental, social
or spiritual nature” .b This definition
includes within its scope the religious and
spiritual dimensions of traditional medicine.
In some countries, traditional medical
practice is closely connected with both
religious as well as spiritual practices.
196
Regulation of Traditional
Medicinal Products
Before the advent of synthetic compounds
and preparations, medicinal plants
provided the most diverse and potentially
most effective means of treating many
illnesses, and the tradition of using plants
was passed from one generation of
traditional healers to the next. 2
While no precise figures are available,
estimates suggest that some 80 per cent
of the world’s inhabitants remain
extensively reliant for their primary health
care needs on traditional medicines,
including those manufactured from plant
extracts or purified active ingredients. 3
Such products are not by any means
confined to developing countries. Use of
herbal products and alternative systems of
medicine is widespread in many developed
countries. In 1990, for instance, the sales
of over-the-counter (OTC) herbal
medicines in Germany alone have been
claimed to be of the order of US$ 1.5
billion. c
Moreover, plant substances continue
to provide the basis for many modern
medicines. In the United States, for
instance, a 1993 estimate indicates that
some 25 per cent of prescription drugs and
60 per cent of non-prescription drugs
include one or more naturally-derived
substances and in 1990 the sales of such
products amounted to some US$ 15.5
billion. 4
In addition to being the sources of
active constituents for many therapeutic
products, plants frequently provide the
starting materials for potent synthesized
drugs, as well as providing models for the
development of related, pharmacologically
b Law No. L/97/021/AN of 19 June 1997 (IDHL, 1999, 59 (2), 162).
c Kuipers C.E. et al. Herbal medicines – a continuing world trend (draft manuscript available with the Programme).