Herbal medicine: Tibb export can earn Pakistan millions of dollars, says NCT

NCT Members criticise the govt for failing to pass a relevant law.

ISLAMABAD:

Despite the passage of 46 year the government has failed to formulate a uniform and effective regulation for the practitioners of herbal medicines. This was stated by National Council for Tibb (NCT) President Professor Hakeem Munawar Sheikh while addressing a press conference here on Sunday.

He added that unlike Pakistan, India was annually was earning millions of dollars through tibb exports. He said since 1965, the government has not enacted any relevant law to promote this common and affordable medicine. Fake practitioners take full advantage of this and continue practising unabated, he added.

Members of NCT complained that they have forwarded the necessary recommendations to the government for approval of an act regarding tibb, but the parliament has done nothing to date. They said that if the government makes an effective regulation for traditional medicine it can earn Pakistan millions of dollars through exports.

According to the members, there are 50 unregistered colleges across the country and only 33 colleges are registered with NCT. They added that there are 457 tibb dispensaries in the country out of which just 95 were established by the provincial governments. They stressed on the need to have an effective regulation for tibb.

Munawar Shiekh said that the government was providing only Rs1 million annually for 33 operational tibia colleges of Pakistan, which is not even sufficient for one. Also the annual Rs1 million grant to NCT by the government was also not sufficient to pay the salaries of the staff.

The council also selected four persons to be deployed in Makkah, Madina and Jeddah to provide medical assistance to Hajjis this year. The four tabibs were selected through balloting, to ensure transparency. The council also decided to send eight people for Hajj on its own expenses.

The meeting was also attended by health ministry’s advisor on traditional medicine Professor Hakeem Rizwan Hafeez Malik, NCT controller examination Kamran Latif Chughati, Hakeem Mujahid Barkati and Hakeem Hafiz Khurasheed.

Published in The Express Tribune, May 16^th, 2011.