The World Health Organization, which recognizes the value of integrating traditional medicine, and in particular herbal medicines, into health systems, supports member states in deploying appropriate public policies, action plans and pharmacovigilance strategies. Among them, 124 countries have already adopted laws and regulations concerning herbal health products.
Marketing Authorization (MA) is one of the regulatory tools used to market products derived from traditional pharmacopoeia, known as Improved Traditional Medicines (ITMs).
The QUALITY network has observed an imbalance between the demand for ITMs and the number of marketed products meeting the criteria of quality, safety and efficacy. Based initially on an analysis of public policies and markets in Peru, West Africa and France, presented in a regulatory review, the network aims to support the development of ITMs. The latter is also based on scientific data and quality control methodology, which are two of the network’s other areas of focus.