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As the world chants the 'herbal mantra', India, the land where Ayurveda originated, is nowhere to be seen in the global market, with its meagre share of 1-2 per cent.
Those in the business say stringent quality norms in the United States and European countries are forcing Indian manufacturers to stay away from these markets. China holds 48 per cent of global share of the international alternate medicine market, whereas, Indian market share lies between 1-2 per cent.
The global market for alternate medicine is presently pegged at around $15 billion and is poised to grow upto a whopping $5 trillion by the year 2050, feel experts.
Experts also attribute the near-absence of Indian players in the global market to the lack of proper documentation.
"Western society does not believe in traditional literature. They want documentation of the research work, which is lacking on the part of Indian companies," says Dr R C Pandey, former president at the New Brunswick Technology Center, USA.
Prof V S Ramamurthy, secretary, Department of Science and Technology, agrees, "Quality control exercise cannot be based on folklore. We need a viable quality control system to convince the international consumer that they deserve what they are paying for."
The global consumers want value-for-money and ensure that the product they are buying has been clinically approved. Dr Pandey explains the global market scenario, "Indian herbal products are marketed as supplements only but to find acceptability as alternate medicine system in the western markets we need to provide clinical data to them. To bring credibility to our products we need the approval from regulatory bodies like Food and Drug Administration in the US."
Dr P Das, former chairman, Medicinal and Aromatic Plants Review Committee, believes, "To get approval in international markets the herbal companies need to follow good manufacturing practices (GMPs) right from the time of harvest to delivery of the herbal products."
He further opines, "We have rich biodiversity, however, we have not tapped our resources properly. Rather than cultivating medicinal plants, we collect them from the wild which has resulted in depletion of these natural resources."
Dr Pushpangadan, another expert agrees," Since almost 85 per cent of the plant extracts are collected from the forests, where chances of cross-pollination are high, same extract might not be present in all the plants. How in this case can we measure quality then?"
Numerous herbs like 'neem' and turmeric have been successfully used for therapeutic purposes in our households since time immemorial. Why then the herbal industry has failed to capitalise on the medicinal value of these plants? Why our products are marketed as supplements and not curative medicines in the international market?
"There is lack of initiative on the part of the industry as well as the government," the industry sources say.
"FDA does not recognise our herbal products as alternate medicine as there is lack of documentation of the research work. They think our products are based on hit-and-trial approach," they further add.
Pharmacists blame the government bodies for lack of data and delay in clinical testings of the herbal products.
"Government institutions take a lot of time in giving us the results. IICT charges Rs 15,000 per test and it takes upto six months to get the results," laments V Ramarao, corporate advisor, Pragati Biopharma.
Prof Ramamurthy says: "We are taking initiatives for standardisation of herbal products like setting up National Accreditation Board and going for GLP certification which is in line with the systems followed by other countries."
He further says, "We can expect GLP to come to effect in India in almost a year."
Clearly with the kind of rich biodiversity that India has, coupled with the fact that Ayurveda has been practiced in the country since ages, the potential to exploit the international markets is immense.
However, as one expert puts it "What cannot be measured, cannot be achieved." We need to set stringent quality norms for standardisation of herbal products so that international community recognises Indian herbal products as a viable system of alternate medicine.