The market

Traditional medical knowledge in India dates back to antiquity and use of herbs for curative properties have been recorded in the Vedas, some of the oldest written records in the world. Ayurveda, the oldest written medical system, is richly supplemented with ancient medical compilations and current scientific research is validating the traditional medicine claims of herbs and several healing practices. Such medical wisdom was so assimilated in the cultural ethos of the nation that despite years of foreign rule and suppression of native medicine, a great deal of folk knowledge exists even today among ordinary people about traditional use of herbal medicines.

Medicinal herbs have been in use in one form or another under indigenous systems of medicine like Ayurveda, Siddha and Unani. Today with about 6,000 plants representing about 75% of the medicinal needs of the third world countries, India is a major worldwide exporter of raw medicinal and aromatic plants and processed plant-based drugs.

Ayurveda is recognized by WHO and is widely practiced world over. While it is difficult to quantify the market size of traditional Indian systems since most practitioners formulate and dispense their own recipes, the present annual turnover of products manufactured by large companies is estimated at approximately US $300 million, compared to a turnover of approximately US $2.5 billion for modern drugs.

Legal status

General physicians educated and trained in modern medicine are relatively unfamiliar with Ayurvedic products and prescribe these drugs only when no other treatment option is available, though the efficacy of several Ayurvedic products is scientifically proven. However patent and proprietary Ayurvedic medicines are sold OTC in pharmacies and these products appear to represent a major share of branded traditional products in India. There is a huge market for these Fast Moving Consumer Goods (FMCG) because of self-medication by the populace for minor ailments such as cold, cough, diarrhoea and stomach problems adding to the large quantum of drugs being prescribed by traditional medical practitioners of Ayurveda, Siddha, Unani and Homeopathy.

Modernization and scientific validation of traditional remedies though initiated on a large scale is yet to catch up with the rapid advances and competition from China, Japan and Korea. Multi-herb composition of traditional drug formulations, individualization and subjectivity of drug dispensing, holistic treatment approach and dearth of standardization methodologies for these preparations as per WHO requirements, reckless exploitation of medicinal plant wealth are some of the contributing factors to the lack of empirical support of modern medical science to traditional drugs from India.

In India there are currently about 250,000 registered medical practitioners of the Ayurvedic system with approximately 291,000 for all systems combined, compared to 700,000 modern medicine practitioners. In every Indian state, about one-third government medical posts are occupied by physicians who belong to the traditional systems.