CORRESPONDENTS' CORRESPONDENCE
PETERSON, THOMAS LAND / WALLACE C.
Correspondents' Correspondence BRIEF TAKEOUTS OF MORE THAN PERSONAL INTEREST FROM LETTERS AND OTHER COMMUNICATIONS RECEIVED BY THE EDITORS. Traditional Healing Geneva—The Ministry of...
...In Bangladesh, for example, along with the medical steps that have been taken by the Ministry of Health, the National Drug Administration has granted nearly 1,000 manufacturing licenses for pharmaceutical products based on locally available herbs...
...Traditional Healing Geneva—The Ministry of Health in Bangladesh has just established a school of traditional medicine and plans to open three more within a year...
...Not so fast there, old Buddy," Harry retorted...
...Its objective is to use the considerable potential of folk healing arts to strengthen health services, and it is already showing results, especially in the area of pharmacology...
...Come on," he scoffed...
...What do you mean, Harry...
...This, too, seems on its way to resulting in new preparations that could mean substantial savings on pharmaceutical imports...
...They have been found effective for the treatment of such common ailments as coughs and colds, diarrhea, dysentery, piles, indigestion, headaches, and cuts and burns...
...You're putting me on...
...OK," I replied, "but why the rich...
...Ronnie knocked the rates down for the top guys way back in 1981, and what have we had ever since —good times, that's what...
...When it is eventually put on the market, the cough syrup is expected to be sold locally at half the price of its European equivalents, and will save Senegal an estimated $421,000 a year in precious foreign exchange...
...I knew that he prided himself on being coldly rational...
...So I thought, Harry, I've got you where I want you...
...Do you mean the House vote a few months ago on cutting taxes on capital gains...
...He adds: "Such research can lead to industrial development in any country where discoveries are made...
...Give the rich an incentive and they'll produce...
...Now you're really beginning to understand supply-side economics...
...It's as simple as that...
...However, the scientists will have to proceed with great tact—for they are honor-bound to respect the secrecy of the medicine men.—Thomas Land Ultimate Logic I had a cup of coffee with my old friend Harry the Horse the other day...
...Get what," I asked blandly, egging him on...
...Wallace C. Peterson...
...Sorry, I've got to rush...
...Well," Harry continued, "some of them at least are beginning to understand the magic of supply-side economics...
...Professor Norman R. Farnsworth, director of the Center, observes in a recent discussion paper that scientists in the Third World are "entering an era in which research on drugs derived from plants can be expected to occupy a prominent position in national priorities...
...In most developing countries, the flora remain virtually unexplored in terms of practical use...
...How the system really works, what makes the economic wheels go round...
...Harry's coffee cup rattled as he pounded the table for emphasis...
...Why not spread the money around, give something to everybody...
...Another joint venture with the Medical and Pharmaceutical University in Toyama, Japan, has dealt with herbal treatments of cancer, diabetes, high blood pressure and liver disorders...
...Cut their taxes, they'll save and invest more, the economy will prosper, and we'll all be better off...
...Go on," Harry replied...
...But everybody knows the poor are lazy and shiftless...
...I see," Harry said in greeting me, "that some of your slow-learning Democrats in Washington are finally getting smart...
...I thought I had him...
...The WHO'S Collaborating Center for Traditional Medicine, at the University of Illinois' College of Pharmacy in Chicago maintains a rapidly expanding computerized global database on the chemistry and pharmacology of natural medicines used by traditional healers...
...And you consider yourself an economist," he said sadly...
...It's the rich who do the saving, dummy," Harry said scornfully...
...The cough syrup and the laxative also may provide an opportunity for the creation of an exporting pharmaceutical industry...
...I don't know," I mused...
...Wouldn't that keep us growing forever...
...In addition, the ministry has sent hundreds of traditional healers to medical schools for crash courses to enhance their art, and has announced the organization of a separate directorate to supervise the practice of traditional medicine...
...The developments in Bangladesh are part of a global strategy being coordinated by the United Nations World Health Organization (WHO) that has brought together scientific and research institutions from all over the world...
...The Medical Research Institute in Kenya, meanwhile, is behind a major effort to identify the active ingredients of various healing plant extracts and mixes used in folk medicine throughout Africa...
...The source of starting material is usually abundant and readily available...
...How so...
...I gave Harry a skeptical glance...
...Similar endeavors are under way at the Chemical Science Faculty of the National University of Asuncion, in cooperation with West German and Japanese researchers...
...They're the key...
...Well, why not go the whole hog...
...You know better than that...
...Ultimately, the attempt to establish and make available the pharmacopoeia of hundreds of remedies will cover an enormous range of plants...
...More than 3,500 medicinal plants have been identified so far in the Paraguayan study, and over 200 medically potent compounds used in various time-honored folk formulas have been isolated...
...It is offering a six-year program to an initial class of 100 students...
...Why not exempt the wealthy from all taxes...
...Doesn't everybody produce...
...Harry laughed...
...But where does that take us...
...Incentives...
...After all these years, you still don't get it...
...I'm over due at the track...
...A second promising discovery in Dakar is a low-cost laxative extracted from the lam plant that could cut Senegal's annual expenditure for foreign drugs by an additional $210,000...
...Then, glancing at his watch, he rose...
...I knew perfectly well what he meant, but I rose to the bait anyway...
...Hey man, where have you been...
...and the next two decades will see the development of many useful drugs to alleviate human suffering...
...Why not give money to the poor?Won't they spend it and make the economy better...
...Besides being an avid student of statistical probabilities, Harry fancies himself a knowledgeable armchair economist...
...These projects have led to the introduction of five postgraduate courses at Asuncion University that are attracting specialists from many institutions across Latin America and the Caribbean...
...Surely you can't believe that by giving the rich another big tax break the economy is going to be better off...
...If you give them more money they'll work even less...
...Oh," I answered, "how do you know it will happen that way...
...The majority of them will be discovered by enthusiastic, energetic and highly motivated scientists in the developing countries...
...The new college, attached to a 100-bed hospital, employs a faculty that includes 10 specially trained medical instructors...
...A joint venture with the Institute of Pharmaceutical Biology of Munich has been looking into the effect of herbal remedies on heart and liver disorders, rheumatism, arthritis and diseases of the nervous system...
...Harry eyed me suspiciously...
...I looked at Harry quizzically...
...All George wants is to keep the good times rolling...
...Harry looked at me, a faint but triumphant smile on his face...
...These explorations are breaking new ground, too, by subjecting the accumulated experience of traditional healers to the scrutiny of modern science in clinical trials...
...Harry shook his head, looking at me with the pained expression of someone trying to explain the obvious to a child or a dim-witted relative...
...That's the way it is...
...But Harry just smiled again, and said, "Great...
...Cut taxes, and people get an incentive to produce...
...What's the ultimate logic of your position...
...It doesn't work that way...
...At the University of Dakar's Faculty of Medicine and Pharmacy, a research and training program has produced a cough syrup based on the indigenous gueira plant that has proven as effective as a range of codeine-based drugs being imported from Europe...
...OK, Harry," I challenged, "let's grant your premise...
...He was in a mellow mood...
Vol. 73 • March 1990 • No. 4
