WHO issues guidelines on herbal medicines

The WHO has released guidelines for good agricultural and collection practices for medicinal plants – an industry estimated to be worth more than US$ 60 billion. The guidelines are intended for national governments to ensure that the production of herbal medicines is of good quality, safe, sustainable and poses no threat to either people or the environment. This comes as reports of patients experiencing negative health consequences caused by the use of herbal medicines are on the rise. One of the major causes of adverse events is directly linked to the poor quality of herbal medicines, including raw medicinal plant materials, and to the wrong identification of plant species. In addition to patient safety issues, there is the risk that a growing herbal market and its great commercial benefit might pose a threat to biodiversity through over-harvesting of the raw materials for herbal medicines and other natural healthcare products.

http://www.who.int/medicines/library/trm/medicinal-plants/agricultural.shtml, 10 February 2004