In response to growing concerns, the
World Health Organisation (WHO) today released its first global strategy on the safety and quality of alternative and traditional medicines.
Up to 80 per cent of people in the developing world use traditional medicines as part of their primary health care, and it is becoming increasingly popular in countries in the North too, the WHO said.
But their growing use has prompted worries among doctors and users about the safety, quality, policy, regulation, biodiversity, efficacy and the protection of traditional knowlege, it said.
"Traditional or complementary medicine is victim of both uncritical enthusiasts and uninformed sceptics," said Yasuhiro Suzuki, WHO's executive director for health technology and pharmaceuticals.
"This strategy is intended to tap into its real potential for people's health and well being, while minimizing the risks of unproven or misused remedies," Mr Suzuki said in a statement.
In Ethiopia, 90 per cent of the population uses traditional medicine for primary health care, in Benin, India and Rwanda, the figure is 70 per cent, according to WHO figures.
In the West, concern about the effects of chemical medicines, a desire for more personalised health care and greater access to information about health is also fueling the use of complementary and alternative medicine.
AFP