Promoting African Medicinal Plants through an African Herbal Pharmacopoeia

ABSTRACT

Various resolutions adopted by the World Health Assembly and Regional Committee for Africa call upon Member States; among others things; to develop herbal pharmacopoeias and to develop and apply scientific criteria and methods for proof of safety and efficacy of medicinal plant products. However; only few countries have developed national herbal pharmacopoeias; limited plant species that provide medicinal herbs have been scientifically evaluated for their possible medical applications; and the safety and efficacy data are available for even fewer herbs. Without well documented information on the safety; efficacy and phytochemical characteristics of different compounds; it is difficult for external buyers to assess the likely utility or value of some new raw materials and extracts of African origin. In order to address these lacunae; the Association of African Medicinal Plants Standards is developing an African Herbal Pharmacopeia with trading standards which provide information and technical data on some 50 important medicinal plants. The objective of developing the monographs is to ensure that these plants become visible on the world market. The monographs lay emphasis on the quality control issues; dosage; use; efficacy; pharmacology and safety of important Africanmedicinal plants