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Phytotherapy: research gaps in PAKISTAN

ABDUL GHAFOOR^*, SADAR UDDIN SIDDIQUI, SHAKEEL AHMAD JATOI AND MALIK ASHIQ RABBANI

Abstract: Medicinal and aromatic plants (MAPs) have a long history of traditional use in Pakistan. The country has a unique and diverse herbal flora, but modern use of herbal treatments in health care is limited by many factors, including possessiveness of herbalists, superstitious mythologies, unrealistic understanding, non-consistent diagnostics, non-sharing of herbal treatments formulations, rigidness of methodologies and unethical collaborative schemes. In order to modernize and fully utilize herbal treatments, all stakeholders must work together in a concerted effort. In this manuscript, we propose a plan that outlines the gaps at three levels and provide a model to bridge these gaps. We need to have a precise research model starting from collection, following through production, and ending with medicine formulations for curing ailments. Only with such a model will Pakistan be able to develop new and effective phytotherapies from its own rich flora.
 

Institute of Agri-Biotechnology and Genetic Resources (IABGR), National Agricultural Research Centre (NARC), Islamabad.

^*E-mail: Ghafoor59pk@yahoo.com