Guidelines for the Appropriate use of Herbal Medicines: 5. Development of a national programme on herbal medicines: 5.7 Collection and exchange of information on herbal medicines

Guidelines for the Appropriate use of Herbal Medicines
(1998; 88 pages)

Table of Contents

	Foreword
	1. Introduction
		1.1 The role of herbal medicines
		1.2 WHO's policy on herbal medicines
		1.3 The need for the guidelines on appropriate use of herbal medicines
	2. Goals and objectives of the guidelines
		2.1 Goals
		2.2 Objectives
	3. Definitions
	4. National policy development
		4.1 Process for the development of a policy on herbal medicine
		4.2 Issues to be included in the policy
	5. Development of a national programme on herbal medicines
		5.1 National management body for the herbal medicine programme
		5.2 Use of herbal medicines in health care
		5.3 Research on herbal medicines
		5.4 Preparation of information on medicinal plants
		5.5 Conservation of medicinal plants
		5.6 Training and education
		5.7 Collection and exchange of information on herbal medicines
	6. Regulation of practitioners
		6.1 Options
		6.2 Examination
	7. Regulation of the manufacture and distribution of medicinal herbal products
		7.1 General considerations
		7.2 Good manufacturing practices (GMP)
		7.3 Training of regulatory staff
		7.4 WHO certification scheme on the quality of pharmaceutical products moving in international commerce
	8. Regulation of herbal medicines
		8.1 General considerations
		8.2 Requirements for raw plant materials
		8.3 Requirements for processed plant materials
		8.4 Requirements for medicinal herbal products
		8.5 Label requirements
		8.6 Responsible government agency for regulation
		8.7 Promotion and advertisement of herbal medicines
		8.8 Monitoring of adverse reactions to herbal medicines
	9. Use of the guidelines
	Annex 1: Report of the meeting of the working group on herbal medicines
	Annex 2: List of temporary advisers, consultants, observers and secretariat
	Annex 3: Agenda
	Annex 4: Opening Speech of Dr S.T. Han, WHO Regional Director for the Western Pacific Region Working Group on Herbal Medicines, 8 December 1997, Manila, Philippines
	Annex 5: Closing Remarks of Dr S.T. Han, WHO Regional Director for the Western Pacific Working Group on Herbal Medicines, 12 December 1997, Manila, Philippines
	References

5.7 Collection and exchange of information on herbal medicines

Collection and exchange of information on herbal medicines, including the preparation of monographs on medicinal plants and evaluation of their safety, efficacy and quality, should be encouraged. For collected information, the construction of various databases is desirable to promote information exchange. Utilization of available databases and distribution of information from existing databases should be given high priority.