They made the statement at a teleconference heldin the northern mountainous province of Lao Cai on April 12 to seek ways tooptimise Vietnam’s herbal plant resource.
An official of central Quang Nam province, whichis famous for Ngoc Linh ginseng (Panax vietnamensis or Vietnamese ginseng),said it is necessary to expand and upgrade transport infrastructure to attractinvestment in developing this rare indigenous species.
Home to nearly 1,000 medicinal plant species,northern Quang Ninh province asked the Government to increase support forbusinesses and local households to tap into this resource, enhance the trainingof specialised pharmacists, and promote the trade of Vietnamese herbal medicinein the region and the world.
Meanwhile, the northernmost province of Ha Giangconsiders herbal medicine development as a start-up priority, an official said,adding that they have contracted research institutes to develop products fromlocal herbal plants.
Addressing the meeting, Prime Minister NguyenXuan Phuc underscored favourable natural conditions for herbal plants inVietnam, adding that the country’s herbal medicine resource is priceless andcan be capitalised in all 63 provinces and cities.
He cited the World Health Organisation’s datathat more than 80 percent of the global population use herbal medicine. InVietnam, at least 30 percent of medicine is made from domestic herbal plants.
This is a big opportunity for the development ofthe country’s herbal medicinal materials, he noted.
As existing measures to tap into the herbalplant resource remain ineffective, PM Phuc urged better policies and legalregulations, the production of herbal medicine with good technology and invalue chain, and the herbal medicine trade promotion.
He suggested three centres for traditionalmedicine research be set up nationwide, asking ministries, sectors andlocalities to raise public awareness of traditional medicine and encourageinnovation and entrepreneurship in this field.
It is also a must to tighten control of thetrade and distribution of herbal medicinal materials to prevent smuggling andprotect domestic herbal medicine production, he stressed.-VNA