A pangolin (Source: telegraph.co.uk)In the past, scales from pangolins, the world’s most traffickedwild mammal, were used in Vietnam for medical treatment, but there is noevidence to support it, Dr Nguyen Thi Bay, former head of HCM CityUniversity of Medicine and Pharmacy’s Traditional Medicine Faculty, said at a recent workshop on the medical value of pangolin scalesheld in Ho Chi Minh City.
Students of traditional medicine at Vietnamese universities arenow taught that pangolin scales are ineffective and that bo conganh (scientific name of Lactuca indica), and Indian camphorweed shouldbe used instead.
Dr Le Hung, Chairman of HCM City Traditional Medicine andAcupuncture Hospital, said that advertisements often falsely claimed thatpangolin scales can treat cancer and diabetes in addition to improving maleenergy and vitality.
In the past decade, one million pangolins were hunted and soldworldwide, leading to a decline in pangolin population, according to theworkshop’s organisers - the Centre of Hands-on Action and Networking forGrowth and Environment (CHANGE), in co-operation with WildAid, a USenvironmental organisation.
Vietnam and China lead the global demand for pangolins, theyreported.
In the world, eight species of pangolin are on the edge of extinction. The Asian pangolin population plummeted by 80 percent in just 21years. Vietnam’s two species, the Chinese and Sunda pangolin, arecritically endangered.
Last July, Vietnam raised the penalty for illegal huntingand trading in pangolin to 15 years in prison. Government agencies in recent years have strengthened theirinspections and seized trafficked pangolins. In the past 10 years, the country’s authorities seized 54.8 tonnesof pangolins and 14.7 tonnes of scales.-VNA
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