The untapped wealth

Man’s fight against disease started with human civilization. From time immemorial herbal medicines have been used for the purpose of

healing the sick in Nepal.

Nepal occupies the central portion of the 2400-km long Himalayan range. The topography of Nepal includes tropical plains, temperate hills and snowcapped high mountain peaks of alpine zone. This is the reason, the country possesses rare and valuable herbal drugs of plant origin.

Nepal has a rich wealth of medicinal plants. Himalayan medicinal plants were well known for their purity and effectiveness. Himalayan herbs possess an incomparable degree of medicinal value. Some of the Himalayan medicinal herbs are panchaule (orchid)Padmachal (rhubarb), bikhama, yarchagumba, kutki (Gentian), Jatamamsi (Spikenard), Khokim, Pakhanbet, Lauthasalla etc.

Since the time of antiquity these plants have provided a good opportunity to our ancestors to develop an indigenous system of medicine, this Ayurvedic tradition has special significance in Nepal where Vedic culture and tradition are recognized by the state.

Most of Nepal’s population live in villages and remote areas where traditional way of medical treatment is practised. Even today, the Vaidyas and medicine men use local herbs for their health care. It is estimated that there are 40000 traditional healers possessing a wide range of medical knowledge. The native healers treat 75 percent of patients according to the ancient Ayurvedic system.

Nepal possesses a tremendous variation in altitude as well as climate within a few hundred kilometers. As a result Nepal is botanically very rich. According to ethno botanical surveys there are more than 700 species used as medicinal plants by indigenous healers. And over 200 of these are also aromatic.

When compared with the western medicine and agriculture, this indigenous system is usually defined as inferior and unscientific. But this is not really the case. Instead of strengthening research on safe and sustainable plant based medicines and pesticides such as Neem Phyllanthus niruri (Bhui Amala) and Pongamia, we focus exclusively on the development and promotion of hazardous and unsustainable chemical pesticides such as DDT and Sevin. We now know that DDT causes millions of deaths each year and has increased the occurrence of pests 12,000 fold.

The western allopathic system has no good medical cure for jaundice or viral hepatitis. Jaundice in medical terms is symptoms associated with liver dysfunction. Phyllanthus niruri is one such medicinal plant used widely in Nepal by ayurvedic physicians for the treatment of jaundice.

In the last 70 years, considerable research in the proprieties of neem was done by various sectors. A prior study shows that neem is effective against the HIV virus. Similarly it has been widely used for diverse purposes over the centuries.

Several other effective medicinal plants are being used in various ailments such as Cassia fistula (Rajbrikchha) as mild laxative Digitalis purpurea (hritpatri) in heart disease, Mesua ferrea (Nagkeshar) as haemostatic, Swertia Chirato (Chiraaito) as good antipyretic, Strictness nuxvomica ( Kuchila) in nervous disorder.

The example of neem and niruri indicates that it is not recognised whn used in the indigenous system but the same knowledge, when tinkered in western labs, is accorded recognition by adapting the definition in ways that are biased in favour of western science and western practitioners.

It is our tragedy that though we are rich in medicinal plants we cannot provide a good health service. Due to the lack of awareness and scarcity in funds, we can’t conduct research on plants. Without research we will not be able to promote our indigenous knowledge. Several things about medicinal plant are still unknown. Their effectiveness and modes of action need to be further investigated.

Nepal exports a number of crude plant drugs to several countries and so medicinal plants remain an important natural resource to our country. The current value of the world market for medicinal plants is estimated to be $ 43 billions. Medicinal plants of Nepal are high in demand in the international Market.

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