Festival Promotes Herbal Treatment | ||
Festival Promotes Herbal Treatment The First National Festival of Herbal Plants, Natural Products and Traditional Medicine was held at Tehran’s Mosalla. The event met with a huge reception from laymen, industrialists and investors. Iran boasts 11 of 13 climate zones in the world. It is home to 8,000 plant species, more diverse than European plant species. Currently 2,100 types of herbal plants have been identified across Iran, most of which have therapeutic, aromatic and antibacterial uses. They can also be used as supplements. Iran annually exports unprocessed herbs worth $100 million to $150 million. The country can produce value-added products with state-of-the-art technologies and trade them with other nations instead of exporting herbs in bulk. Mohammad Hassan Assareh, secretary of the exhibition, told that the event aimed to promote proper consumption of herbal plans, indentify the potentials in herbal medicine, expand the industry and present new usage. Pointing to the profitability of herbal plants, Assareh put the global trade of herbal plants at $40 billion to $60 billion in recent years. “Currently, herbal drugs account for 25 percent of the $250 billion pharmaceutical market,” he said, adding that based on the World Bank’s estimate, the global trade of herbal plants and drugs would reach $5 trillion in 2050. “Iran has a meager share in the global trade of herbal plants despite its huge potentials,” he said, adding that the country exports unprocessed and raw herbs.
| ||
Statistics View: 1,750 |
||