Govt agrees to introduce guidelines on herbal medicine clinical trial - Dr Hilmi

The Health Ministry has agreed to introduce proper guidelines for herbal medicine clinical trial next year, says its deputy minister Datuk Seri Dr Hilmi Yahaya.

However, he said, the guidelines would only be made into realisation once in-depth researches and discussions with stakeholders were completed.

"If we follow the regulations under the American Food and Drug Administration (FDA), the cost of going through one single herbal medicine test can reach up to millions of ringgit, and it takes years before one test could be completed as stringent process is required under the FDA.

"Which is why, during the council meeting, we decided that Malaysia has to have its own guidelines so that we can reduce cost and time in producing the herbal medicines," he told a press conference after closing the Herbal Asia 2017 Trade Show and Conference, here on Thursday.

Dr Hilmi said the matter was raised during a council meeting which was established under the Traditional and Complementary Medicine Act 2016, as the current guidelines on the herbal medicine clinical trial were based on the FDA.

Earlier, during his keynote speech, Dr Hilmi pointed out that herbal medicine should be developed as an industry like the travel medicine industry and could register double-digit growth annually.

He said, the government-linked companies and small and medium-sized enterprises could also play a vital role in developing local and global herbal brands.

"Malaysia's herbal industry has huge growth potential as we have about 20,000 species of herbal plants. Of that, about 2,000 species have been identified to have potential pharmaceutical value," he added.

The two-day conference, themed 'Towards A Sustainable Marketplace: Herbal Product Innovation, Natural Cosmetic and Halal Ingredient the Growing Industry', was held to promote herbal-related events, including business-matching sessions, herbal conference and herbal Asia programmes.

-- BERNAMA