UNB, Dhaka :
Experts here at a conference on Saturday warned that unapproved harmful drugs are being manufactured in Bangladesh in the name of herbal medicines.
“Many people here take unapproved herbal medicine for treating impotency and hair loss and for boosting energy uselessly,” said pharmaceutical professor of Dhaka University ABM Faroque, adding that several pharmaceutical companies are also manufacturing substandard allopathic medicine.
Ayurved & Naturopathy Association of Bangladesh (AYUNS), Dhaka University’s Department of Pharmacy, the Public Health Foundation of Bangladesh, and Hamdard University Bangladesh jointly organised the fourth AYUNS international conference at Nabab Nawab Ali Chowdhury Senate Bhaban of Dhaka University.
The theme of this year’s conference was ‘traditional medicine and universal health coverage’.
Prof Faroque alleged that many pharmaceutical companies in Bangladesh have been given permission to manufacture life-saving drugs like antibiotics although they have no adequate capacity and infrastructure to produce drugs.
Suggesting qualified and registered practitioners be consulted before taking herbal medicine, he said substandard medicines don’t work
to treat patients but they do cause health hazards. Despite that however, speakers suggested expansion of the use of alternative medicine, which include ayurvedic, unani and homeopathic medicines, to cut medical expenses.
They said integration of alternative or traditional medicine into the national healthcare system and its wider use can contribute greatly to the universal health coverage that the Bangladesh government has targeted to achieve by 2032.
According to them, the entire world is now inclined towards traditional medicine which has been proved highly effective in disease treatment and prevention with low side effects. Alternative medicine is less expensive than allopathic or mainstream medicine.
Vice Chancellor of Hamdard University Bangladesh Prof Dr Tanvir Ahmed Khan, chairman of Department of Pharmacy at the University of Dhaka Professor Dr Sitesh C Bachar, line director at Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS) Dr Monowara Sultana, founder of Hamdard University Bangladesh Dr Hakim Md Yousuf Harun Bhuyan and secretary general of Bangladesh Medical Association Prof M Iqbal Arslan, among others, spoke at the conference.
Experts here at a conference on Saturday warned that unapproved harmful drugs are being manufactured in Bangladesh in the name of herbal medicines.
“Many people here take unapproved herbal medicine for treating impotency and hair loss and for boosting energy uselessly,” said pharmaceutical professor of Dhaka University ABM Faroque, adding that several pharmaceutical companies are also manufacturing substandard allopathic medicine.
Ayurved & Naturopathy Association of Bangladesh (AYUNS), Dhaka University’s Department of Pharmacy, the Public Health Foundation of Bangladesh, and Hamdard University Bangladesh jointly organised the fourth AYUNS international conference at Nabab Nawab Ali Chowdhury Senate Bhaban of Dhaka University.
The theme of this year’s conference was ‘traditional medicine and universal health coverage’.
Prof Faroque alleged that many pharmaceutical companies in Bangladesh have been given permission to manufacture life-saving drugs like antibiotics although they have no adequate capacity and infrastructure to produce drugs.
Suggesting qualified and registered practitioners be consulted before taking herbal medicine, he said substandard medicines don’t work
to treat patients but they do cause health hazards. Despite that however, speakers suggested expansion of the use of alternative medicine, which include ayurvedic, unani and homeopathic medicines, to cut medical expenses.
They said integration of alternative or traditional medicine into the national healthcare system and its wider use can contribute greatly to the universal health coverage that the Bangladesh government has targeted to achieve by 2032.
According to them, the entire world is now inclined towards traditional medicine which has been proved highly effective in disease treatment and prevention with low side effects. Alternative medicine is less expensive than allopathic or mainstream medicine.
Vice Chancellor of Hamdard University Bangladesh Prof Dr Tanvir Ahmed Khan, chairman of Department of Pharmacy at the University of Dhaka Professor Dr Sitesh C Bachar, line director at Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS) Dr Monowara Sultana, founder of Hamdard University Bangladesh Dr Hakim Md Yousuf Harun Bhuyan and secretary general of Bangladesh Medical Association Prof M Iqbal Arslan, among others, spoke at the conference.
