MUSCAT: The Ministry of Health, represented by the Pharmaceutical Affairs & Drug Control (DGPADC), would like to warn about the promotional advertisements, spread across social media, regarding herbal or healing mixtures alleging that they are proven and recommended by specialized physicians for curing some chronic diseases like asthma, blood pressure, diabetes, and infertility.
The Directorate affirmed that using these mixtures may be accompanied by significant health risks, which include the following:
1. Promotions that these mixtures are effective in treating incurable diseases may contain misinformation that is not based on accredited scientific studies. In addition, they lack data showing the ingredients’ source, use method, and side effects resulting from using these mixtures.
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2. These mixtures may contain undeclared chemical or medicinal substances that may cause side effects and drug interactions for the consumer.
3. These mixtures may contain toxic metals such as lead, arsenic, and mercury. Furthermore, the water used in preparing these mixtures may be unhygienic, or the storage circumstances, humidity, and temperature may be unhealthy, which allows the reproduction of microbes and fungi.
The Directorate stressed the rules and conditions for registering herbal preparations companies, which regulate the trading and marketing of alternative medicine drugs to ensure their safety and efficacy.
The herbal or chemical preparations manufactured for medication and treatment are equated with the medicine provision stipulated in article 1 of the ministerial decision 113/ 2020 on issuing the executive regulation of the law governing the practice of the pharmacy profession and pharmacy enterprises, which stipulates: “Herbal medicine: a substance of plant origin manufactured in pharmaceutical form, using for prevention of diseases or treatment or both of them. The use of this herbal medicine is limited to the topical application or oral or rectal use or inhalation”.
Article 75 of the third Clause, ‘Herbal Medicines & Products Companies,’ stipulates the conditions that must be fulfilled to register herbal medicines. It is worth mentioning that using herbal or curing mixtures may cause adverse effects on the functions of the body’s organs due to chemical component interferences.
