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Exclusive news coverage by Times of India on Res-Q, the wonder drug by Jadavpur University. With the approach of the winter season, asthma is on the rise. This is the first time that a research product of the Jadavpur University will find its way to the market. Read more on this news:
Change is everywhere. On one hand, we can see innovations in the field of science and technology; while on the other hand we observe a return to the ancient tradition. People all over the world are waking up to the need for Ayurvedic medicines and the stressing the importance of herbal medicines in curing or managing certain serious ailments. And India is the last country to realize the potential of this phenomenon, although it is here that the medicine was born.
However, better late than never, they say! And purists are now considering the importance of universal recognition for international promotion of herbal medicines. In a recent incident, almost 200 samples of herbal medicines bought from the Internet were tested by researchers of an American University and found to contain rich deposits of minerals and metals. This has come as a punch in the face of the herbal medicine market in India. For the first time, the Government is launching a quality checking program, a vigilance program unparalleled in the history of ancient Ayurveda. The Health Ministry has announced that all Ayurvedic doctors as well as patients can report any adverse effects of Ayurveda to a regulatory body that will investigate the matter and take legal actions against the company to ensure a ‘clean’ reputation for the Ayurvedic drugs.
The national research centre selected for this program is the Post Graduate Institute of Ayurveda at the Gujarat Ayurveda University, Jamnagar. There will be eight regional centres under this apex body that will report individual cases to the committee. The committee will cross check the cases before taking any decision. The committee will also report the case to the World Health Organization if the violation of norms is of serious nature. Such a pharmacovigilance initiative has also been taken in the past for preventing the corruption in the manufacturing and selling of modern allopathic medicines, but it yielded no result, thanks to corrupt doctors and irresponsible pharma companies.
For a $300 million market in India alone, and almost $1 billion world over, this was a move that had to come sooner or later. They say, “Health is wealth”. Better if India understands the potential of its traditional medicines promising heath to the individual and wealth to the economy!
CFC (chloroflurocarbon) inhalers are all set to become extinct by 2008. This is a result of the Montreal Protocol signed by many countries in 1989. According to the agreement, 160 countries had taken the vow of phasing out all CFC related products from the world by 2010. CFC is responsible for the depletion of the ozone layer of atmosphere. This ozone layer protects us against the harmful UV rays of the sun, risk of skin cancer, and certain major health problems. But CFC is also a near indispensable thing in our daily use. Its use in aerosol sprays was banned in the late 1970s, but only on paper. Deodorants and Air Conditioners use CFCs even today. Add to this the use of CFC inhalers, a must-have for asthma patients.
The phasing out of CFC inhalers is a cause of concern for asthma patients since these are approved and prescribed forms of medication for people suffering from asthma. These inhalers are also economical as against the HFA (hydrofluroalkane) inhalers that will be phased out by 2010. However as of now, these HFA inhalers will cost almost 20% more than the CFC inhalers. Since asthma is a chronic disease, sufferers usually take these medicines on a regular basis, and have a separate budget for their medication. A sudden hike in prices will affect their expense pattern and influence their decision to discontinue the medication.
There are 22-25 million asthma and bronchitis patients in India, and a $1billion herbal medicine market in India. It is highly probable that a considerable percentage of inhaler users will switch to Ayurvedic form of medication. But, with herbal medicine companies harping more on the conventional approaches and disapproving any form of modern technology incorporation, the enlightened section of the population will prefer inhalers. The new poly herbal asthma medicine Res-Q from Asoka Lifescience Limited is an exception in this regard. It has been made by using a novel drug delivery technology, and dissolves in the mouth itself bypassing the entire metabolic process. The future of the herbal medicine market now looks bright.
