Throughout the world, about 35,000–70,000 species of plants have been used at one time or another for medicinal, neutraceuticals and cosmeceuticals purposes. In India, about 1,000 plant species, in Nepal about 700 species, about 700 species in Peninsular Malaysia and its neighbouring Islands and in Chinese medicine about 9,905 plant materials are used but only a relatively very small number of them are used in any significant volume.
FUTURE ECONOMIC GROWTH
Throughout the world, about 35,000–70,000 species of plants
have been used at one time or another for medicinal, neutraceuticals and
cosmeceuticals purposes. In India, about 1,000 plant species, in Nepal about
700 species, about 700 species in Peninsular Malaysia and its neighbouring
Islands and in Chinese medicine about 9,905 plant materials are used but only a
relatively very small number of them are used in any significant volume.
According to the Interna-tional Trade Centre (ITC) report, there is generally
upward trend except for 1990, when it dipped slightly before rising again to
US$ 1.08 billion in 1991. The world trade in medicinal plants and raw material
from plants parts aver-aged US$ 1.28 billion during 1995–1999. Thus, there is
lot of scope in future for new plant-based drugs that are still to be
introduced, and the economic significance of these plant-based pharmaceuticals
is considerable which is based on the following two aspects:
1. The value of the current plant-based
pharmaceuticals, and
2. The value of potential plant-based
pharmaceuticals, which are yet to be introduced.
The values of these drugs are described both in terms of
their market value and their economic value.
Market value is a subset of economic value, which includes
all benefits to society. Market value of the drugs is attributable to the
plants raw materials, development and manufacturing costs as well as the
incorporation of research cost for the failed efforts and above all the
existence of consumer’s surplus.
Economic value represents all the social benefits of
par-ticular type of product including market value. Economic value can be
viewed as an expression of the total benefit of a product.
The relationship between the economic value of a medic-inal
plant species and market price of the drugs derived from it, is not a direct
one. However, it is true that the market prices are minimum valuations assuming
that:
· the demand for the drug is
inelastic,
· that it is appropriate to value an
essential input as its own cost plants, and
· the economic rent obtained from it
plus the associated consumer’s surplus.
For example, the market value of a stand of forest could be
measured by translating the wood volume there in into an equivalent quantity of
paper and then taking the market value of the paper. In contrast, economic
value to society includes not only the value of the paper (or whatever the
other commodity is selected), but also what may be referred to as the in situ benefit of trees as forest that
is the contribution as:
· The forest checks the soil erosion,
stabilizing the water table, converting carbon dioxide into oxygen
(environ-mental effects);
· Providing protection to wild life,
and;
· Providing recreational
opportunities; hence, the eco-nomic value is much larger in magnitude but also
much more difficult to quantify.
For example, an economic value for medicinal plant species
would be examining the current cost to society of a disease whose impact might
be diminished in the future by drug derived from plants, e.g. in the case of
cancer disease which is the major cause of about 5 lakh deaths per year in the
United States and cost about US$ 14 billion annually in treatment, whereas the
value of each life estimated to be about US$ 8 million, then the total value
will be about US$ 4 trillion annually. Anticancer drugs save about 75,000 lives
annually in the United States (an estimated 15% of 500,000 lives), and
plant-based drugs comprise about 40% of total group of anticancer drugs.
Combining those estimates, approximately 30,000 lives are saved annually in the
United States as result of the use of plant-based drugs. Multiplying the lives
saved by the value per life, the annual economic value of plant-based drugs in
the United States alone is estimated to be about US$ 250 billion. Since this
estimate reflect only a part of the total economic value of all plant-based
pharmaceuticals; moreover, these values include none of the nonpharmaceuticals
benefits provided by the plants responsible for these drugs. The above
mentioned data is on the basis of information by Violette and Chestnut 1986, in
EPA-230-06-86016 Feb. 1986, and information available from the economic value
of biological diversity among medicinal plants. These values would be tripled
to US$ 750 billion annually to account for anticancer appli-cation in all
Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) countries.
This reflects that medicinal plants and their products have
taken an increasing medical and economical impor-tance with respect to product
categories like health food, cosmetics and personal care products containing
natural ingredients—the demand for medicinal plants is growing exponentially.
The fastest growing world market in herbal products is opening up new
opportunities for the develop-ing countries to benefit from the rising green
consumer-ism, trend to develop their export potential. However, this requires a
grand strategic plan, which takes a holistic view of the entire situation to
boost the export.
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