Over the past decade, herbal medicine has become a topic of increasing global importance, with
both medical and economic implications. In developing countries, as much as 80% of the indigenous populations
depends on traditional systems of medicine and medicinal plants as their primary source of healthcare. Within the
European Community, herbal medicines represent an important share of the pharmaceutical market, with annual
sales in the range of US$7 billion. In the United States, the sale of herbal products has skyrocketed from $200
million in 1988 to .$3.3 billion in 1997. Such widespread use of botanicals throughout the world has raised serious
questions concerning the quality, safety and efficacy of these products. Thus, accurate scientific assessment of
herbal medicine is a prerequisite for global harmonization of herbal health claims. In 1995, as part of its overall
global strategy of “Health for All” and due to numerous requests from the member states, the Traditional Medicine
Program of the WHO began the extensive task of reviewing the world’s scientific literature of commonly used
herbal medicines and publishing this information in monographs. The WHO monographs are technical reviews of
the quality, safety and efficacy of commonly used herbal medicines and are intended primarily to harmonize the
proper use of herbal medicines throughout the world.