Question

Scope and importance of medicinal plants

Answer 1

The government should provide financial support to promote the potential role of traditional medicine in primary health care. Inventory and documentation of various medicinal plants and herbs, which are used to treat common diseases, should be developed.

Answer 2

Medicinal plants are the sources of materials for preparation of certain medicines and drugs that are used to treat certain diseases. For example, quinine that is obtained from the bark of cinchona trees is utilised in treatment for malaria. In earlier days, when medicines were not discovered, then the treatment of most of the diseases was extracting the medicinal materials from medicinal plants and using it for treating the disease such that the disease gets cured ultimately.