Medicinal Plants and their role in Economic Development A Presentation BY Mr. Allah Dad Khan At PFI On 25h March 2017

 Herbal medicine -- also called botanical medicine or phytomedicine -- refers to using a plant's seeds, berries, roots, leaves, bark, or flowers for medicinal purposes.  Herbalism has a long tradition of use outside of conventional medicine.  It is becoming more main stream as improvements in analysis and quality control along with advances in clinical research show the value of herbal medicine in treating and preventing disease

 The geographical location of Pakistan has provided an ideal environment for the growth and nourishment of different medicinal plant species.  The country is gifted with diverse vegetation types occurring in the tropical, sub-tropical desert, semi-desert, temperate, sub-alpine and alpine ecosystems.

 Pakistan has a diverse climatic condition supporting the growth of nearly 6000 higher plant species.  Of which 700 plant species are reported for their medicinal value and the number is increasing constantly due to current interest of local researchers in natural products.  Nearly 300 medicinal plants are traded locally and internationally.  Pakistan obtains more than 80 per cent of its medicaments from higher plants

 Medicinal plant species is one of the most important elements of biodiversity that usually grows in all kind of ecosystems and posses high pharmaceutical, economic and ecological values.  Different parts of medicinal plants are sold in large quantities both in national and international markets, indicating its importance as a source of income for the inhabitants of Pakistan.

 Presently, the total value of medicines consumed in country both imported and manufactured by national and multinational drug companies is more than 100 billion rupees per year.  Out of this, 95% raw material is imported.

 Majority of the medicinal plants is found in less developed and far flung parts of the country like Gilgit Baltistan, FATA and parts of Baluchistan, KPK and Kashmir.  Therefore, their proper utilization could not only contribute to poverty alleviation in these areas but also could contribute to overall economic development of country.

 Bulks of the wild medicinal plants are collected by children (47 per cent) and women (34 per cent) having no background of proper plant collection which have caused a rapid threat to some of the economically important medicinal plants.

 Poverty and Lack of Access to Costly Medicines.  Lack of Awareness of Herbal medicines  Quality concern  lack of standardization  lack of listing formulae constituents  Private sector participation isolated  Policy and Regulatory gaps  Inadequate Knowledge and actions to make herbal medicine as a commercial/business enterprise

Medicinal plants are not only a mean of health care, but make an important contribution to livelihoods of poor communities all over the world.World trade in medicinal plants accounts for about 30 percent of the total drug market.

 The current value of global trade of the medicinal plant products has been put over US$ 75 billion per year and is growing at the rate of 12.5% annually, expecting to reach $5 trillion by 2050  This percentage excludes plants used for non-medicinal purposes. Bulk of the raw material (90%) is produced in developing countries (Asia, Africa and Latin America) and 60% is imported/ processed and used in the developed countries.

 Asia represents the greatest volume of medicinal plants used across regions, both domestically and for export. The international trade of medicinal plants is dominated by only few countries. About 80 % of the world-wide exports of medicinal plants are allotted to only 12 countries with the dominance of China and India as the world’s leading producing nations

 China, which harvests an estimated 80% of its medicinal plant material from wild sources, exports an estimated 32,600 tons of medicinal raw material each year

 Demand for a wide variety of MAP species is increasing with growth in human needs, numbers and commercial trade. Increasing the number of medicinal plants species in cultivation would appear to be an important strategy for meeting a growing demand

 Majority of the people in Pakistan rely on medicinal plants to find treatment for their minor, even in some cases major diseases. Some wild plants are now being commonly used e.g. Ephedra, Artimisia,

 In most instances, certain plant species are considered specific for a particular illness but occasionally they have mixed usage. Alongside the annual import of many medicinal plants by herbal, cosmetic and food industries is a positive indicator for cropping these plants inland in the country.

 But unfortunately in Pakistan not enough emphasis has been given to cultivation of medicinal Plant, though we are blessed with a country which has an altitudinal range from m, hence having variety of climatic conditions at a given time.

 The organic farming is a basic philosophy for production of medicinal herbs. Organic farming methods are based on nature’s principles of production. Organically produced medicinal herbs are believed to be living in harmony with the natural system by cooperating rather than competing. Most of the medicinal herb species are collected from the wild but some of these are also grown particularly by small farmers to diversify their cropping system and to earn some additional income for their sustenance

 To develop a balanced health policy to provide efficient and acceptable health services, we  need to understand the diversity of health- seeking behavior of the population in both (allelopathy and traditional medicine) health care system of Pakistan  The state regulatory authorities have a crucial role to play in this scenario, in terms of recognition of herbal medicines, financing and appreciating training and research in this field.

 A positive interaction between all cadres of health providers, academicians, policy makers and researchers has to be harnessed to work for a common goal to improve the health of the people  Integration of alternative medicine with the mainstream allopathic therapeutics

 Now it is the time that government should start public awareness campaign about importance of medicinal plants in country economy.  Special emphasis should be given on conservation of plant species in the form of herbal gardens and gene banks.  According to a study, out of 709 endangered plant species of the world, nearly 64 species are endemic to Pakistan.  The local people should be trained for proper collection, cultivation, processing and marketing of medicinal plants.  The government should provide linkage of collectors with market and dealers not only at national level but also at international level.

 The farmers need to be guided and provided information about the types of market that exist locally and determine whether they may be suitable to supply.  Each market might require different types of distribution and promotion.  In the rural market, distribution was via middleman.  Depending on the area that a farmer wishes to cover and the number of such sales outlets, it may be possible to supply them on the basis of contract with some agency involved in the business of medicinal herbs/spices.

 Since natural compounds are highly value added possible because of multiple known reasons products, it is therefore extremely important to induct new However, different models for the standardization of modern techniques in the method of collection and other phytomedicine is available that need further polishing processes involved in the product development in order to prevent irrelevant wastage of time and expenditures.

 The cultivation of medicinal plants is highly applications recommended for sustainable development of herbal industry by adopting modern scientific techniques meet not only the growing local but also to earn foreign exchange from the export of plant oriented various, products.

 The perfect coordination of numerous fields is crucial, in the discovery of phytomedicine. The identification and  the collection of plant material from specific locality is the job ethno botanist.

 There is therefore, a need to find ways to harvest medicinal plants sustainably from the wild, train local collectors (in proper collection techniques, train the people in growing medicinal plants, and remove some of the middlemen from the trading chain.