Officials discuss promoting knowledge-based products in food, medicine sectors
TEHRAN – The headquarters for developing food and agricultural knowledge-based economy and the headquarters for developing traditional medicine and medicinal herbs have discussed ways to expedite the commercialization of knowledge-based products.
Officials from the two headquarters met on Thursday with a focus on the development of new seeds (high-yielding with high levels of tolerance to environmental stress) using modern biotechnology, breeding, and genetic knowledge, and the replacement of antibiotics with plant-derived compounds (including the production of food and pharmaceutical supplements taken from medicinal plants to promote health, biosafety and reduce the use of antibiotics in the livestock, poultry and aquatic production chain).
The promotion of smart agriculture (employing mechanization, automation, artificial intelligence, and data mining in agricultural machinery), and the production of functional food (developing natural food additives, value-added food products, leveraging modern, sustainable, and knowledge-based processes, and meeting health-related needs of society) to complete the value change were also discussed, IRNA reported.
The meeting also aimed at boosting synergy and policy alignment, utilizing the country’s innovative and technological capacities in agriculture, food, medicine, and health-oriented supplements fields.
On January 13, Damoun Razmjouei, the secretary of the headquarters for developing traditional medicine and medicinal herbs, and Emad Ahmadvand, the secretary of the headquarters for developing nanotechnology and microtechnology, attended a meeting to use nanotechnology for promoting herbal medicine, IRNA reported.
The two sides discussed ways to use the capacity of nanotechnology in manufacturing standardized products, increasing the efficiency of products, and developing knowledge-based products, especially herbal medicine.
Over 83% of Iranians tend to use traditional medicine
According to a recent survey, 83.8 percent of people in the country tend to benefit from Iranian traditional medicine.
The survey’s findings have confirmed people’s positive attitude towards Persian traditional medicine. However, only 10 out of 83.8 percent use traditional medicine and supplements for the treatment of their illnesses.
According to a report by the World Health Organization (WHO), Iran ranks third in traditional medicine trials in the International Clinical Trials Registry Platform (ICTRP), highlighting the country’s status as one of the world’s pioneers in traditional and complementary medicine.
China and India rank first and second, respectively, the health ministry’s website reported.
The share of clinical trials in traditional and complementary medicine in Iran makes up about three percent of all clinical trials registered in the country, while just about 0.3 percent of the healthcare staff are experts in traditional and complementary medicine. The report shows the high capacity of Iranian researchers to move towards evidence-based medicine.
Persian traditional medicine strongly focuses on prioritizing health maintenance and disease prevention over treatment.
It is one of the most ancient forms of traditional medicine. It is grounded in the concept of four senses of humor: phlegm (Balgham), blood (Dam), yellow bile (Safra’), and black bile (Sauda’). The concept of the four senses of humor is based on the teachings of Rhazes and Avicenna in an elaborate medical system.
So far, about 30,000 plant species have been identified in the world, with Iran’s share of about 8,000 species which is more than the whole of species found in Europe.
Around 500 Persian medicine experts are providing health and medical treatment services across the country. More than 1,000 general practitioners who have passed the Persian medicine courses approved by the health ministry are also offering services.
Training Persian medicine experts has always been at the top of the Persian medicine office’s agenda. Therefore, different skill courses have been developed and held under the supervision of the health ministry.
MT/MG