The Lao People’s Democratic Republic is a landlocked country surrounded by the Myanmar and Yunnan provinces of China to the north, Viet Nam to the east, Cambodia to the south and Thailand to the west. It has a population of about 5.9 million and an area of 236,800 square kilometres. The landscape of the country is mostly mountainous especially in the north and east. Lao PDR has comparatively rich forest cover relative to most Asian countries. The tropical rainforests, covering about 47% of the area, are not only important for the conservation of biodiversity but also serve as a large reserve of natural resources, including medicinal and aromatic plants. Over the last few decades, these plants have been not only exploited by pharmaceutical companies but also used by traditional practitioners as domestic raw material for the preparation of their rem-edies. The forest degradation and deforestation have become serious problems for the country. In 1975, Lao PDR commenced a modest plantation programme and around 20 National Biodiversity Conservation Areas covering about 10% of the total area have been legally established. Medicinal and aromatic plants play an important role in the socio-economics of the country and have contributed significantly to improving the life of the people.
Traditional Medicine Systems
Lao PDR traditional medicine is known as ‘ya phurn meung’, meaning medicine from the foundation of the country and plays an important role in the health care of Laotians. The origin of this medicine system dates back to the 12th century. With the unification of the country traditional Buddhist and Indian medicinal systems were in-tegrated into the society. With the French invasion, in 1893 allopathic medicine was introduced in Lao PDR (WHO, 2001).
Piper retrofractum Vahl & Tinospora crispa Hook. f. & Thumb.
A number of medicinal traditions are practised in Lao PDR and together they comprise traditional Lao medicine. These medicinal traditions vary depending on the ethnic groups. The three largest ethnic divisions in the country are the Lao Loum, Lao Soung and Lao Theung. These ethnic divisions are further divided into smaller ethnic subgroups which differ from each other in dialect, customs and beliefs and medicinal traditions. The traditional healers from any of these groups are generally specialists treating specific illnesses (Riley, 2003).
Most of the hospitals and clinics lack modern facilities and do not meet western standards. People, especially those who live far from clinics, depend on traditional medi-cine for their health care. Traditional medimedi-cines consist of remedies of herbal and animal origin and complement modern medicine.
Government Efforts in Development of Traditional Medicine
The Lao PDR government actively promotes traditional medicine, which is well articulated and well represented throughout the country. The government has a national programme on traditional medicine with a five-year work plan. There are traditional medicine hospitals at all levels and a patient is free to opt for modern or traditional medicine. The Traditional Medicine Research Centre (TMRC) previously known as the Research Institute of Medicinal Plants (RIMP) was set up to record ethnomedical information i.e. the remedies prescribed by traditional healers; conduct surveys of the country’s medicinal plant resources; study the efficacy of the formulae and their method of processing, improve the galenic forms and facilitate the transfer of traditional medi-cines to domestic, government sponsored pharmaceutical companies for large scale pro-duction. It is the only institute of its kind in Lao PDR dedicated to research on medicinal and aromatic plants and traditional Lao medicine (Riley, 2003).
In February 1993, a national seminar to review the use of traditional medicine in primary health care at the provincial and district levels was held and a draft national policy on traditional medicine was submitted to the Ministry of Health. In some prov-inces training courses on the use of traditional medicine in communities were held by the government in 1996 (WHO, 2001). The national policy on traditional medicine was included in the National Drug Policy issued in 1998. The National Programme on tra-ditional medicine was issued in 2000 and regulations on herbal medicines were issued in 2002; these were separate from those of conventional pharmaceuticals. A national pharmacopoeia is neither in existence nor in development. National monographs on herbal medicines are found in Medicinal Plants of ASEAN; these ten herbal mono-graphs are considered to be legally binding. Thirty herbal medicines were included in the national essential drug list which was issued in 2002 (WHO, 2005).
Medicinal and Aromatic Plant Resources
Lao PDR has abundant natural resources. The forests are rich in diversity of me-dicinal and aromatic plants. An accurate survey on meme-dicinal and aromatic plants of Lao PDR has not been accomplished yet. However, there are an estimated 4,000 plant species found in Lao PDR. The Lao Pharmacopoeia cited about 3,000 species among which about 1,000 species are collected by healers and about 500 medicinal plant species are being used for treating various common diseases. Some important medicinal and aromatic plants of Lao PDR are presented in Table 1 (Southavong, 2004; Kraisintu, 2003).
Cardamom (Amomum spp.) is among the important plants used for its medicinal properties and collected mainly from natural resources. It grows abundantly in natural for-ests in all parts of the country. There are eight species of cardamom that occur throughout the country, the four main ones are Amomum longiligulare T. L. Wu., Amomum ovoideum Pierre ex Gagnep., Amomum spp. (locally known as maak naeng hua lohn) and Amomum villosum Lour. The first species is found mainly in the south, the others in the north. Since 1975, it has been domesticated and is grown with rice in the provinces of Champasack and Salavan. Because of its high yield Amomum xanthioides Wall. from China was also introduced in the Oudomxay Province. Boehmeria malabarica Wedd. has been reported to be used by local villagers in traditional medicines for treating digestive and intestinal disorders and is found mainly in the northern provinces of Oudomxai, Luang Prabang, Sayabouly, Luang Nam Tha, Bokeo, Xiang Khouang and Phongsaly. People have started to cultivate the plant. Studies to domesticate it are underway (FAO, 2002).
Research and Development Activities
A survey carried out in 1976 by the Pharmacognosy Section, Traditional Medicine Research Center recorded 866 medicinal plants species. There are abundant species of aromatic plants in Lao PDR but few studies have been conducted on them. Almost all the raw materials for essential oil production are collected from the wild. Some small private companies are interested in exploiting wild raw materials for essential oil extrac-tion and plantaextrac-tion (Southavong, 2004). A number of policies have been formulated by the government to promote the use of medicinal plants and traditional medicines since independence, however, the number of institutes dealing with research and development of herbal medicines are limited in Lao PDR.
The Ministry of Health has developed a unique system of promotion and protection of the traditional medicine practices in Lao PDR. The TMRC has been working with tradi-tional healers at the local level through a network of Traditradi-tional Medicine (TM) Stations.
Most provinces in Lao PDR have one TM station, with staff well versed in both traditional
and conventional medicine and are engaged in recording local remedies from traditional healers. A large number of plant material is collected, dried and stored at the TM stations and the specimens of popularly used medicinal plants will be studied to determine their known medicinal effects, phytochemical properties and biological activities (Riley, 2003).
TMRC is also working with the International Cooperative Biodiversity Group (ICBG) Programme based at the University of Illinois-Chicago (UIC) for discovering prospec-tive medicinal products from plants. The programme is dedicated to research on ethical drug discovery and works in collaboration with research scientists and institutions from the country. Since 1999, 597 plant species have been discovered, identified and screened for their effects against Malaria, HIV/AIDS, TB, Cancer, CNS and various other diseases.
The data has been recorded in the NAPIS database at the Centre. Some medicinal plants tested for biological activities are presented in Table 2 (Southavong, 2004).
The Pharmaceutical Development Centre (PDC) funded by the Japanese govern-ment is engaged in the production of conventional medicines and extraction of active principles from plants (Sengsavang, 2000).
The Forest Research Center has formulated a project to develop an effective pro-gramme for cardamom plantation throughout the country, to form a network of coop-eration between farmers and traders and to meet the quantity and quality demand of the local and external markets. The ASEAN Regional Centre for Biodiversity Conservation (ARCBC) is carrying out a project Quantitative Survey of the Medicinal Plants in Hin Nam No Areas, Khammouane Province with a number of agencies including TMRC.
The objectives of the project include survey and inventory of commonly used medicinal plants; collection of new herbarium specimens; creation of a medicinal plants database;
community education on the importance of medicinal plant diversity; and encourage-ment and cooperation of local people in the preservation of valuable and endangered plant species (Anonymous, 2003).
Trade and Marketing
There are few industries dealing with herbal medicines in Lao PDR. The country produces only 30 to 40% of both allopathic and traditional medicines domestically.
There are seven pharmaceutical factories in the capital, of which three belong to the state, one is a joint venture with China and the rest are privately owned. These produce only a small quantity of plant based medicines. The factories in the private sector pro-duce largely modern medicines and only a small portion from plant material. Most tra-ditional medicine factories in the private sector produce tratra-ditional remedies consisting of one or more medicinal plants. The raw material is pretreated and processed for both domestic sale and export purposes. The production size of state and private companies is
so small that demand can only be met at domestic level (Kraisintu, 2003).
In 1994, the Pharmaceutical Factory No. 2 started production of some herbal medicines and most of the products from Factory No. 104 are also based on herbal and medicinal plants. The three home based industries namely Golden Mouse Brand, Naga (Serpent) Brand and Tiger Brand cater for traditional medicine needs of rural and urban populations of the country. A newly established company, BIOIL is working on cultivation of aromatic plants. The company has plans for the distillation of essential oils (Sengsavang, 2000).
Cardamom is exclusively exported to China and Rep. Korea at fluctuating prices.
Among medicinal products, which cover about 70% of the total export income, cardamom accounts for 90%. The Boehmeria malabarica Wedd. bark is exported mainly to China where it is used to produce incense, mosquito repellent and glue as Lao PDR has no process-ing facilities for the final product. Luang Nam and Bokeo provinces export largest quantities of the commodity. However, little trade or pricing information is available (FAO, 2002).
Essential oil production from aromatic plants is considered to be a new branch of economy in Lao PDR but the industrial level exploitation of aromatic plants is limited.
No systematic inventory has been made to know the potential of aromatic plant species and their abundance in the country. Many foreign businessmen are interested in coop-erating with TMRC to undertake feasibility study of exploiting medicinal and aromatic plant of Lao PDR (Kraisintu, 2003).
Problems and Constraints
Lao PDR has abundant biodiversity, especially of medicinal and aromatic plants.
However, their exploitation and utilization has not been carried out properly. There is a lack of information on potential plant resources for both exploitation and conservation, lack of facilities for carrying out research on safety and efficacy, pharmacological, phar-macodynamic, pharmacokinetic, toxicological and clinical studies of active constituents from plants and lack of funds to organize specialized training. There is a need for tech-nology, human resources and funds to ensure the sustainable development of plant raw materials into medicines and aromatic products for domestic and foreign markets.
Table 1: Some common medicinal and aromatic plants of Lao PDR
Botanical name Family Part(s) used Uses/Indications
Acorus gramineus Soland Araceae Rhizome In arrhythmia, asthma,
as stomachic, cardio-tonic Ageratum conyzoides L. Asteraceae Whole herb In bleeding disorders Alocasia macrorrhiza (L.) G. Don Araceae Rhizome In malaria, asthma
Continued
Table 1 continued
Botanical name Family Part(s) used Uses/Indications
Alpinia officinarum Hance Zingiberaceae Rhizome In cholic, as stomachic Alstonia scholaris (L.) R. Br. Apocynaceae Bark In malaria, gastric disorders
Amomum sp. Zingiberaceae Fruits For digestion
Amomum xanthioides Wall. Zingiberaceae Fruits In flatulence
Amorphophallus riviera Durr. Araceae Tuber In malaria
Andrographis paniculata
(Burm. F.) Nees Acanthaceae Whole herb In infections, dysentery,
as antiseptic, tonic Aquilaria crassna Pierre Thymeleaceae Wood In colitis, nausea, hiccup
Artemisia annua L. Asteraceae Leaves In malaria, fever
Artemisia vulgaris L. Asteraceae Whole herb In headache, menstrual disorder
Artocarpus lakoocha Roxb. Moraceae Wood For tapeworm infestation
Asparagus cochinchinensis (Lour.) Merr. Liliaceae Rhizome As diuretic, in cough
Azadirachta indica A. Juss. Meliaceae Wood In malaria
Bidens pilosa L. Asteraceae Whole herb In headache, caries, hiccough
Blumea balsamifera (L.) D. C. Asteraceae Leaves In cold, coryza
Caesalpinia sappan L. Fabaceae Wood As tonic, in dysentery
Canangium odorata Hook. Annonaceae Flower, wood In hypertension
Cassia alata L. Fabaceae Root, leaves For eczema
Cassia occidentalis L. Fabaceae Seed In eye disorders, constipation
Catharanthus roseus (L.) Don. Apocynaceae Leaves In leukemia Centella asiatica Urban Apiaceae Whole plant In cancer, diabetic Chenopodium ambrosioides L. Chenopodiaceae Essential oil Anthelmintic
Cinchona ledgeriana Moens. Rubiaceae Bark In malaria, as tonic
Cinnamomum camphora (L.) J. Presl Lauraceae Wood In colic, chest pain, as cardio-stimulant
Cinnamomum cassia Blume Lauraceae Stem bark/twig As tonic, balm ingredient, in coryza Cinnamomum cortechinii Gamble. Lauraceae Leaves In influenza
Cinnamomum iners Reinw. Lauraceae Bark In influenza
Coscinium usitatum Pierre Menispermaceae Vine In dysentery, as cholagogue
Costus speciosus Smith. Zingiberaceae Rhizome In arthritis
Crataegus pinnatifidus Bunge Rosaceae Fruit As stomachic, cardio-tonic
Cymbopogon spp. Poaceae Aerial part In flu, influenza, cold
Dichroa febrifuga Lour. Hydrangeaceae Leaf In malaria
Drynaria fortunei J. Smith. Polypodiaceae Rhizome In rheumatism Eclipta alba (L.) Hassk. Asteraceae Whole herb In bleeding disorders
Elephantopus scaber L. Asteraceae Root In allergy, diarrhoea, fever, as diuretic Elsholtzia cristata Willd. Lamiaceae Whole herb In cold, headache
Embelia ribes Burm. F. Myrsinaceae Fruit For tapeworm infestation
Eucalyptus spp. Myrtaceae Leaf In influenza
Eupatorium odoratum L. Asteraceae Root, leaf In bleeding disorders, appendicitis
Evodia lepta (Spr.) Merr. Rutaceae Root In asthma
Continued
Table 1 continued
Botanical name Family Part(s) used Uses/Indications
Glycosmis citrifolia Lindl. Rutaceae Root, leaf In asthma
Gnaphalium indicum L. Asteraceae Flower In cough, bronchitis
Heliotropium indicum L. Boraginaceae Root In backpain
Hibiscus abelmoschus L. Malvaceae Seed, root As diuretic, in constipation Holarrhena antidysenterica
(Roxb. ex Fleming) Wall. ex. A. DC. Apocynaceae Bark,seed In dysentery Homalomena occulta (Lour.) Schoot Araceae Rhizome In rheumatism
Justicia adhatoda L. Acanthaceae Leaf In bone fractures
Lasia spinosa (L.) Thwaites Araceae Rhizome In angina, oedema
Leea sambusina Willd. Leeaceae Root As tonic, in rheumatism
Litsea cubeba (Lour.) Pers. Lauraceae Fruit As stomachic
Mahonia bealei Carr. Berberidaceae Wood In conjunctivitis
Melia azedarach L. Meliaceae Root bark As anthelmintic
Micromelum falcatum Tanaka Rutaceae Whole herb In asthma
Morinda citrifolia L. Rubiaceae Wood, fruit In arterial hypertension, constipation, pain, diabetes
Ocimum basilicum L. Lamiaceae Seed In nausea, fever, kidney diseases
Ocimum gratissimum L. Lamiaceae Whole herb In cold, caries
Ocimum sanctum L. Lamiaceae Whole herb In malaria
Passiflora foetida L. Passifloraceae Aerial part As tranquilizer, in anxiety Pinus khesya Royle ex Gordon Pinaceae Wood resin,
essential oil In cough, as antiseptic Polygonum kingianum Coll. et Hemsl. Asparagaceae Rhizome As tonic
Rauvolfia canescens L. Apocynaceae Root bark In hypertension
Rauvolfia serpentina (L.) Benth. ex. Kunz Apocynaceae Root bark In hypertension Rauvolfia verticillata (Lour.) Baill. Apocynaceae Root bark In hypertension Schefflera elliptica Harms. Araliaceae Bark As tonic, in rheumatism
Smilax glabra Roxb. Smilacaceae Rhizome As tonic
Spilanthes acmella (L.) L. Asteraceae Flower, leaf In caries Stephania glabra Miers. Menispermaceae Bulb, tuber As tranquillizer Sterculia lychnophora Hance Sterculiaceae Fruit In constipation Streptocaulon extensus Wight L. Asclepiadaceae Vine As anthelmintic Streptocaulon juventas (Lour.) Merr. Asclepiadaceae Root As tonic
Strychnos nux vomica L. Loganiaceae Seed In neurasthenia, as tonic
Styrax tonkinesis (Pierre) Craib Styraceae Resin In cough, bronchitis Tetrapanax papyrifer (Hook.) K. Koch Araliaceae Root, wood As diuretic
Tinospora crispa Miers. Menispermaceae Vine As bitter tonic, in joint pain
Uncaria sp. Rubiaceae Vine In hypertension, rheumatism,
fever convulsion Wedelia calendulacea Less. Asteraceae Whole herb As antibiotic
Xanthium strumarium L. Asteraceae Fruit In allergy, goiter
Zanthoxylum spp. Rutaceae Fruit In flatulence
Zingiber officinale Roscoe Zingiberaceae Rhizome In influenza, as stimulant, carminative
Table 2: Some medicinal plants tested for biological activity
Activity Botanical name Family Part(s) studied
Antiviral effect Asparagus cochinchinensis (Lour.) Merr. Asparagaceae Root
Colubrina pubescens Kurz Rhamnaceae Root
Diospyros ehretioides Wall. Ebenaceae Twig
Parinarium annamense Hance Rosaceae Twig
Plumeria acutifolia Poir. Apocynaceae Wood
Anti-TB effect Stixis sp. Capparidaceae Twig
Polialthia suberosa Benth. Annonaceae Entire plant
Anti-malarial effect Gardenia philastrei Pierre ex Pit. Rubiaceae Root
Hibiscus praeclarus Gagnep. Malvaceae Twig/leaves
Hygrophila polysperma Nees Acanthaceae Entire plant
Memecylon sp. Melastomaceae Wood
Phylloclymis spinosa Burm. Moraceae Twig
Premna latifolia Roxb. Verbenaceae Twig
Pterospermum sp. Sterculiaceae Wood
Rourea minor Leenh. Connaraceae Vine
Sarcocephalus caudatus Miq. Rubiaceae Twig
2.6 Malaysia
Malaysia consists of two major landmasses, the Peninsular Malaysia at the tip of mainland Southeast Asia and the states of Sabah and Sarawak on the island of Borneo.
The population is about 23 million consisting of different races (Malays, Chinese, In-dians, Ibans, Kadazans and others). The Malays dominate with about 58% of the total population. The country is located in the tropics and has an equatorial climate with uniform temperature throughout the year. It covers an area of 329,750 square kilome-tres with approximately 60% under forest cover. Malaysia is blessed with an abundant and diverse flora, much of which is believed to possess medicinal value. It is among the world’s top 12 biodiversity rich countries. However, the economic potential of the coun-try’s natural resources has yet to be fully realized or investigated.
Traditional Medicine Systems
The Malaysian government has adopted allopathic medicine as its official health care system. However, Ayurveda, Siddha, traditional Chinese, traditional Malay, Unani and other traditional systems of medicine are commonly practised in Malaysia. The diversity in medical systems reflects the diverse population of Chinese, Indians, Malay and indigenous heritage. Traditional medicine is looked upon as an alternative or
supple-ment to modern medicine and has made significant contributions to the health care of the Malaysians over the past decades. Various diseases such as diarrhoea, skin problems, headache, fever, cough, wounds, hypertension, diabetes and rheumatism are treated with herbal medicine. Traditional medicines continue to be practised by the community to treat disease and maintain health especially in remote areas where modern facilities are not readily available (WHO, 2001).
The indigenous medicinal system of Malaysia is traditional Malay medicine, which has been influenced by the medicine practices of Arabia, India, Java and those practised by numerous aboriginal races. These medical practices, based on practical experiences and observations which are handed down from generation to generation are particularly popular in rural areas. A traditional Malay folk medicine practitioner is called a bomoh.
The traditional treatment includes spiritual therapy, massage therapy and herbs used in
The traditional treatment includes spiritual therapy, massage therapy and herbs used in