Herbal Medicine

The World Health Organization (WHO) estimates that 80 percent of the population of some Asian and African countries presently use herbal medicine for some aspect of primary health care. Whilw United States and Europe have shown that the herbs use is less common in clinical settings, but has become increasingly more in recent years as scientific evidence about the effectiveness of herbal medicine has become more widely available. * * Uses of herbs as traditional medicine have been officially recognized in the developing countries such as China, India, Sri Lanka and Africa. While, more than 50 %of the population in United States, Canada, the European Union and Japan, has a tendency to use traditional medicine * Uses of herbs as traditional medicine have been officially recognized in the developing countries such as China, India, Sri Lanka and Africa. While United States and Europe have shown that the herbs use is less common in clinical settings, but has become increasingly more in recent years as scientific evidence about the effectiveness of herbal medicine has become more widely available.

* This situation clearly shows that the herbal and medicinal plants will continue to be accepted by the majority of the world population as an alternative to conventional medicine. * "Malaysia is not left behind in the use of herbs for health care,"

* The herbal industry has been identified as the source of national economic growth under the Agricultural National Key Economic Area (NKEA) in the Economic Transformation Programme (ETP) and

* A special project which is Unlocking value from Malaysia's biodiversity through high value herbal products' has been created by Entry Point Project-EPP 1 in which five herbs has been selected to increase its production to meet the current demand (MOA, 2011).

5 Herbal