MEDICINE FROM HERBS

A whole new world has been opened up by Minister of Public Utilities and the Environment, Pennelope Beckles in the possibility of Trinidadians and Tobagonians earning money from plants growing in their backyards, or forested areas, some of which had been used by earlier generations to either alleviate or “cure” the common cold and fever, and provide an ease for back pain as well as arthritis. Ms Beckles, speaking at Thursday’s launch of Mega Insurance Company Limited’s 2004 calendar, offered that (several of) our plants had the potential for great medical and economic value, and the harvesting of our medicinal plants could become part of what the Minister termed a billion-dollar worldwide industry. If fully explored, she declared, “could be a great source of revenue and employment for our citizens.”

If a mere few decades ago mothers would religiously make tea from green bush, virvine, shining bush, black sage, bois cano and Christmas bush (this one with sugar and olive oil) insisting on their therapeutic value, on Thursday the Environment Minister, although she did not call the plants by name, held out that there was now money to be made from the planting, reaping and exporting of some of these and yet other unnamed herbs. But while it is true that many of the world’s brand name drugs have resulted from research by pharmaceutical companies into the medicinal applications of various plants, many of them found in Trinidad and Tobago and the Caribbean Region, nonetheless care should be taken by the average person in the use of these herbs. Minister Beckles has been understandably enthused with the prospect of nationals of this country being able to reap some of the rewards gained internationally today from the harvesting of medicinal plants. In the United States, for example, herbal or bush medicine has a relatively large and lucrative following, with scores of outlets around the country. And while the brand name or even generic drugs may have been made from the same plants which provided the herbal medicine, the fundamental difference, and this is crucial, lies in the strength and the volume of the medicine prescribed.

So that Minister Beckles may have been open to misunderstanding or even misrepresentation with respect to her statement that “the future doctors and herbal practitioners of our country would be able to conduct research on our local plants so that they too can discover new uses for them.” There have been so-called herbalists in the country, who have claimed over the years that they could cure everything from the common cold to cancer and heart problems. And they have maintained to have found a “cure” after “conducting research.” In other countries some have asserted that HIV/AIDS could be cured through the use of herbal medicine, which they had “discovered.” The curative qualities of many plants have been well documented, and Minister Beckles is correct in stating that there are such plants in Trinidad and Tobago. With a proper planting and reaping programme undoubtedly money can be made from such an entreprise. However, persons who may wish to become involved will need technical advice, and this is where Government can come in.