A medicinal herb farm (illustrative photo)

A report by the National Institute of Medicinal Materials says Vietnam has nearly 4,000 varieties of plants, 400 species of animal, and 75 minerals useful for medicine. There are more than 320 drug producers using medicinal material and 20 factories have met the Good Manufacturing Practice standard of the World Health Organization. The Institute has worked with medicinal herb growing areas to plant appropriate varieties.

It has studied and transferred technology to localities to grow endemic medicinal plants such as Ngoc Lam ginseng in Kon Tum province, artichoke in Lai Chau and Lao Cai province, bastard cardamon in Thai Nguyen province, moringa in An Giang, and  multiflorous knootweed in Sa Pa and Ha Giang province.

In recent years, medicinal herb plantation has been shrinking. Some varieties are near extinction. Production facilities are poorly equipped. Medicinal material use hasn’t been well managed.

The Ministry of Industry and Trade has proposed solutions to increase the domestic supply of medicinal materials to boost pharmaceutical production. Last year the Prime Minister said at a national conference that developing medicinal materials involving  three major orientations: clearly identifying the role of medicinal materials at the national, local, and sectoral level; developing medicinal materials in line with market demand; and re-organizing the medicinal material sector in terms of processing, manufacturing, and using traditional herbal remedies in combination with modern medicine.