The document "is not a binding guideline for any country, but it is a model or sort of checklist which they can use to make their own national regulations," said Hans Hogerzeil, acting director of the WHO's Essential Drugs and Medicines Department (Reuters/Environmental News Network, Feb. 11).

According to the WHO, reports of patients experiencing negative health consequences caused by the use of herbal medicines are on the rise, mostly due to the "poor quality of herbal medicines, including raw medicinal plant materials, and to the wrong identification of plant species."

The agency also warned that the growing herbal market threatens biodiversity through over-harvesting of the raw materials for the medicines and other health-care products.

"If not controlled, these practices may lead to the extinction of endangered species and the destruction of natural habitats and resources," the WHO said, giving as an example the rapid decline of wild varieties of ginseng, used to address digestive conditions resulting from nervous disorders.

"Wild American ginseng, goldenseal, echinacea, black cohosh, slippery elm and kava kava top the 'at-risk list' of endangered species of medicinal plants," the WHO said (WHO release, Feb. 10).

In Africa, up to 80 percent of the population depends on traditional medicine for primary health care, while herbal remedies in China account for 50 percent of total consumption. In Europe, North America and other industrialized countries, more than 50 percent of the population reported using complementary or alternative medicine at least once (Reuters/ENN).

Yesterday, the U.N. Environment Program and the World Intellectual Property Organization released a report analyzing how the commercial benefits of herbal medicines are shared between corporations and indigenous groups that usually grow the plants.

While there are agreements between the two groups, the report says, they are sometimes misused or ignored (U.N. release, Feb. 10).

Copyright, National Journal Group, 2004