[Ip-health] FT: Drug Demand Threatens Vital Medicinal Plants

[Riaz K Tayob]

FT: Drug Demand Threatens Vital Medicinal Plants
<http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/8c14ad2a-c61f-11dc-8378-0000779fd2ac.html>
Drug demand threatens vital medicinal plants

By Salamander Davoudi in London

Published: January 19 2008 03:33 | Last updated: January 19 2008 03:33

Habitat destruction and the increasing demand for drugs are threatening
to wipe out some of the world's most important medicinal plant species
and could spark a global healthcare crisis, according to leading experts.

A global survey carried out by more than 100 botanists and other
scientists has found that more than 10,000 species of medicinal plants
face extinction, including many used in prescription drugs that cannot
be commercially synthesised.

"Habitat loss, over-population, increasing urbanisation, destructive
harvesting and agricultural expansion have all contributed to this
problem," said Belinda Hawkins, author of the report by Botanic Gardens
Conservation International, the UK-based charity. "Up to
15,000 medicinal plants are under threat in the wild and, if no action
is taken, some of them could be extinct in under 10 years."

Concerns have traditionally centred around heavy demand for herbal
remedies.

However, as many as 50 per cent of prescription drugs are now based on
molecules occurring naturally in plants, according to the report. In
many cases chemistry cannot offer a viable alternative to the active
botanical compound.

Paclitaxel, the world's most widely used cancer drug, is derived from
the bark of several species of yew trees and has defied all attempts of
commercial synthesis. An average of six trees are needed for just a
single dose.

Its use has decimated wild yew populations across the world with 80 per
cent of the trees in China's Yunnan province, once famous for its yew
forests, destroyed within a three-year period, according to the report.

Hoodia, used by the bushmen of Namibia to stave off hunger on long
hunting trips, has sparked interest for its perceived ability to
suppress appetite and is being looked at by large pharmaceutical
companies as a way of fighting obesity.

Vast quantities have been ripped from the wild, decimating entire
populations. Few will invest in planting the species as a commercial
crop until its properties are proven, the report says.

BGCI believes natural areas must be conserved as gene banks and that the
cultivation of these types of plants should become a priority =96 even
though this may require massive investment.

Other solutions are seed banks, tighter trade legislation and better
education. The value of the trade in medicinal plants is estimated at
$60bn (=8041bn, =A331bn) a year, according to the World Bank.

"We need to make people more aware that the resources of the planet are
not infinite and that their actions as [consumers] will often have
far-reaching effects," said Ms Hawkins.

The World Health Organisation has estimated that 80 per cent of people
worldwide rely on traditional medicine for their primary healthcare.

In Europe more than 1,300 medicinal plants are used commercially and
about 90 per cent are taken from the wild. In the US 70 per cent of all
newly developed drugs are derived from natural sources.