• Home

Herbal Medicines Sold in UAE are Safe, Says Ministry Official

dubai — Herbal products sold in the country are safe as they are tested and registered with the Ministry of Health (MoH), assured a senior official of the ministry.

In the wake of recent reports suggesting that herbal medicines being sold online could contain high doses of arsenic and lead, the MoH official, who did not want to be named, said that all such medicines sold in the country were registered and approved for use only after undergoing stringent testing methods.

“If people resort to buying unlicensed and unregistered products online, they maybe ruining their health. However, the products approved for sale in the country are tried and tested,” the MoH official said.

“Regular checks are conducted in pharmacies to remove products that are not licensed by the MoH,” said the official.

To ensure that consumers are protected from illegal practitioners, the MoH holds examinations before practitioners of complementary and alternative medicines are allowed to practise.

A recent study suggested that herbal medicines sold online frequently contain dangerous levels of lead, arsenic and mercury. Led by Dr Robert Saper from the Boston University School of Medicine, the study looked at 193 ayurvedic products made by 37 manufacturers in India and the US which were bought through 25 web sites.

It also suggested that a fifth of ayurvedic medicines contained doses of toxic metals and chemicals up to 10,000 times higher than acceptable limit, and the study said products with such high levels of dangerous metals should be banned from sale.

According to the report, lead was the most commonly found toxin followed by mercury and arsenic.

Defending their trade, herbal practitioners in the country said that such reports could discourage people from using an alternative medicine that did not have any side effects. “Misuse of anything can lead to disastrous consequences,” explains Professor Hakeem Mohammed Sabri from the Al Kashif Plant Company that grows its own herbal plants for medicinal use.

The highest levels of toxic metals were found in medicines from a branch of ayurveda called rasa shastra which is used to treat serious illnesses including paralysis. “There are some medicines that require arsenic, but only as little as a needle’s point. However, some inexperienced herbal doctors could be misjudging the required amounts,” explained Hakeem Sabri.

asmaalizain@khaleejtimes.com