CALL to SAFEGUARD TRADITIONAL MEDICINES
By Jim Morahan
HERBAL remedy suppliers, and health shops selling their produce, fear the business will collapse unless the Government brings in regulations to safeguard the industry.
“Tens of thousands of Irish people rely on safe, traditional herbal remedies for their primary health care,” said Aideen Hurley of the Irish Association of Health Stores (IAHS), which represents 80 shopowners.
“These people are spending their own money and making their own choices of the kind of health care they want — and very likely are saving the Exchequer money,” she said.
A major flaw in Irish Medicines Board (IMB) draft regulations, designed to regulate traditional medicines, is the failure to define what actually constitutes a medicine, say the two organisations representing suppliers and proprietors of health food stores.
Both groups question the suitability of the legal definition of a pharmaceutical medicine being applied to traditional medicines.
Jonathon Griffith of the Irish Health Trade Association, which represents manufacturers and suppliers, said they had been seeking regulations for the past 15 years. While they had serious reservations about the format, they were prepared to cooperate in the search for appropriate regulations.
“Our concern is that the regulations don’t formally recognise traditional medicines.
“Without formal recognition, traditional medicines are in serious danger of being overwhelmed by the conventional medical system into which they are being drawn,” said Mr Griffith.
Ms Hurley urged consumers to make their views known to the IMB before December 27, the closing date for public comment on its draft proposals on traditional remedies.
Traditional medicines were a in category of their own and the attempt to treat them according to the European model of pharmaceutical medicine was “seriously flawed”, the groups said.
The IMB said a system that would regulate traditional and herbal products would benefit the consumer.