The New Reference Centre launched in style

Amid loud ululations and throbbing music, the National Reference Centre for African Traditional Medicines was officially launched at the MRC in February.

The Reference Centre is to address a critical need for information about traditional plant medicines. The market for these medicines is huge, yet there is no regulatory system that could safeguard the public's interest when it comes to safety, quality and efficacy.

According to Dr Motlatlepula Matsabisa of the MRC's Indigenous Knowledge Systems Division, the Reference Centre will fulfill a number of roles. The Centre will educate both traditional practitioners and scientists about medicines. A new database will be constructed that will house all known information about traditional medicines, including previously undisclosed information. Claims for cures will be investigated and the issue of intellectual property will be addressed. This is especially important when effective traditional medications are commercialised.

It is to be a Centre 'without walls' and will be jointly run by the MRC and the CSIR. The MRC will do the biomedical research into the plants to find promising products or extracts, while the CSIR will market or commercialise the products.

A group of traditional healers dressed in traditional splendour