The market

Herbal medicine sales is growing in Germany and herbal remedies represent an important share of the German pharmaceutical market. According to an Institut fur Medizinische Statistik (IMS) report, presented during an ESCOP Symposium in Brussels in October 1990, the German herbal medicines market was worth US $1.7 billion in 1989, which was equal to 10% of the total pharmaceutical market in Germany. A representative study carried out by the Allensbach Institute among the German population in June 1989 confirmed usage of natural medicines by a large number of people in Germany. The study showed that 58% of the population has taken such remedies, 44% of them within the previous year. It could also be shown that over the years the number of younger people using natural remedies has increased significantly. According to the study report, natural medicines were generally considered more harmless than chemical drugs. A majority among the German population (85%) believed that the experience of physicians, practitioners and patients should be accepted as proof for the efficacy of natural medicines. The rising popularity is driven by German patients, who began demanding herbal alternatives to synthetic drugs. Medical schools responded by reintroducing lessons on a topic that had been phased out of medical curriculum.

Herbal medicines are distributed through OTC sales in pharmacies and other distribution channels and on medical prescription through pharmacies. They are, in principle, reimbursable by the health insurance system unless special criteria for their exclusion apply, for example, specified indications such as common cold or laxatives or substances with a negative assessment by Commission E. Except for a few preparations, herbal medicines are not prescription-bound but can be prescribed by physicians or practitioners for reimbursement.

The total turnover of non-prescription-bound herbal medicines in pharmacies was DM 4.5 billion in 1995, which was equal to almost 30% of the total turnover of non-prescription-bound medicines (DM 15.2 billion). Preparations sold on prescription amounted to DM 2.4 billion and those purchased through self-medication to DM 2.1 billion of the total turnover of non-prescription-bound phytomedicines. Herbal medicines can be found among the 2,000 most important drugs prescribed by medical doctors and reimbursed by health insurances.