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Bangladesh will no longer be classified as a least developed country (LDC) after 2026, and modern pharmaceutical companies will lose access to many of the current export facilities that would continue to remain available for traditional medicines. In order to maximize its export opportunities, Bangladesh must focus on traditional medicine manufacturing, Munshi Darul Islam, chief executive officer of Total Natural Company, a manufacturer and distributor of herbal medicine, told The Business Post’s Abdur Razzak Sohel in an interview
Why would people choose traditional medicines over predominant modern ones?
Modern or allopathic medicines may seem more effective but they also may have various side effects too due to fixed dosage and specific chemical formulas while traditional medicines have no side effects because they don’t have any chemical interaction and are purely made from herbs.
What are the benefits of traditional medicines?
Plant-based remedies are effective at treating a number of symptoms and ailments. While they may not cure diseases and heal all chronic conditions, herbal remedies can ease the symptoms of these ailments.
Another advantage is that herbal remedies very rarely have side effects as they are completely natural. Modern medicines and pharmaceutical drugs often have long lists of side effects that can sometimes be worse than the condition they are designed to treat. Traditional remedies are usually safe for all patients unless they are allergic to certain plant chemicals.
Is traditional medicine popular in the country?
Traditional medicines are still popular today, especially in societies with little access to modern healthcare and medical aids. However, the market is not expanding as quickly as it could. Whereas the modern medicine market is growing by 8 to 10 per cent annually, the traditional medicine market is only growing by 5 per cent.
What is the export potential of this industry?
Natural herbs are abounding in Bangladesh. Every herb serves as both food and medicine.
If we can promote innovation, technology, and educational institutions related to this field, public health will improve while increasing herbal medicine exports.
Most of the top 20 modern pharma companies now manufacture traditional medicine due to the growing local demand and export potential.
How are you promoting traditional medicine in the country?
Business Promotion Council, an initiative of the commerce ministry that promotes the export of specific products, is working to promote herbal medicines. They have instructions to arrange at least 10 programs annually for each organisation operating in the country. Meanwhile, we organise programs at the district level to raise public awareness.
The industry has developed well over the years. There are now more than 286 Unani drug manufacturers and 255 companies that produce Ayurvedic medicines.
What are some of the challenges present in the industry?
Though this sector is gaining ground, there are also challenges, such as a lack of innovation, technology, and educational institutions. Also, due to a lack of doctors, awareness of such medicines is not growing.
Many hawkers sell medicines describing them as herbal, but questions remain about the quality of these drugs. By selling substandard products, they are tarnishing the image of the industry. Also, these products have health risks.
We have only 1,000-1,500 doctors in this sector, but the country needs at least one lakh. We only have one institution and there are no MPhil or PhD programmes.
The educational system is not industry-friendly. We have pharmacy departments for allopathy, but there are no Unani and Ayurvedic subjects which can boost the industry.
