Report of the Task Force on Conservation & Sustainable Use of Medicinal Plants

Abstract

“Health for All” continues to be a distant dream for India. With the increase in life expectancy and the problems of over crowding, air and water pollution, degenerative disease stress, allergies, diabetes, rheumatic and arthritic conditions, neurological conditions, memory disorders are likely to grow. Currently, about 85 per cent of women are anaemic on account of iron deficiency and 2.2 million children are afflicted with cretinism while another 6.5 million are mildly retarded. About 1.1 lakh women die every year of causes related to pregnancy and childbirth. This can affect the quality of life, productivity and the well-being of future generations. the health of women is especially important because if children are born to sick mothers, there will be problems in their later life. Our per capita annual consumption of drugs of Rs. 125 is the lowest in the world mainly because medicinal plants constitute the principal health care resources for the majority of population. the World Health Organisation (WHO) estimated that 80% of the population of developing countries rely on traditional medicines, mostly plant drugs, for their primary health care needs. Also, modem pharmacopoeia still contains at least 25% drugs derived from plants and many others, which are synthetic analogues built on prototype compounds, isolated from plants. Transition from synthetic drugs and microbially produced antibiotics to plant based drugs is rapidly gaining acceptance. Global resurgence in the use of plant based drugs is an opportunity for India to attain self reliance and boost the export of herbal drugs.