Health Ministry to Establish Herbal Promotion Board by End-2018

By Niam Seet Wei KUALA LUMPUR, Sept 21 (Bernama) -- The Health Ministry is working to establish a Herbal Promotion Promotion Board under the Traditional and Complementary Medicine Council (T&CM) by end-2018, to make Malaysia a regional herbal hub for the herbal medicine industry. Deputy Health Minister, Dr Hilmi Yahaya, said currently, the council was only acting as a regulatory body for the service in Malaysia. "It is high time for Malaysia to have a Herbal Medicine Promotion Board to boost the industry," he told Bernama after delivering his keynote address at the Herbal Asia 2017 conference here Thursday. Hilmi said the idea sprouted from local herbal practitioners who wanted to promote their products and enhance business prospects. "With the promotion board, we hope to promote the herbal medicine industry under one body. “Malaysia's herbal industry has huge growth potential as we have about 20,000 species of herbal plants. Of that, about 2,000 species have been identified to have potential pharmaceutical value," he added. He said herbal medicine should be developed as an industry like the travel medicine industry and could register double-digit growth annually. Meanwhile, in his opening remarks, Hilmi said government-linked companies and small and medium-sized enterprises could play a vital role in developing local and global herbal brands. "They can engage with local expertise in developing, marketing and promoting the products," he said, adding, women were also encouraged to capitalise on the herbal and health market. "I believe women can play a key role as knowledge workers in herbal industry," he added. Hilmi also said the government would work closely with relevant stakeholders to support the herbal agenda towards raising Malaysia's profile as a leading provider of quality healthcare for global citizens. -- BERNAMA