Promoting added value from marine medicinal herbs

The development of medicinal herbs in general and marine medicinal herbs in particular has received investment attention from the Government and localities nationwide, aiming to promote potential advantages associated with socio-economic development...

Rich in Vietnamese marine medicinal herbs

According to Mr. Do Xuan Tuyen, Deputy Minister of Health, Vietnam has a very diverse source of medicinal herbs in general and marine medicinal herbs, with more than 3,000km of coastline with a rich source of minerals, microorganisms, and plants, playing an important role in developing medicinal herbs and taking care of people's health. With the available potential, the health sector has been investing to develop the marine medicinal herbs industry, developing traditional medicine step by step to be on par with modern medicine in disease prevention and treatment.

According to statistics from the authorities, Vietnam has nearly 12,000 species of marine life, including 2,000 species of fish, 6,000 species of benthic animals, 653 species of algae, 5 species of turtles, 12 species of sea snakes... For a long time, medicinal herbs from the sea have had many uses, used in traditional folk medicine to prevent and treat diseases for people such as seahorses, cuttlefish, sea cucumbers, abalone, starfish...

In addition, with the development of modern medicine, the research and development of drugs and functional foods from marine resources has received the attention of scientists around the world such as the US, Japan, Canada, Korea, Australia, the Netherlands, India, etc. Many drugs have been researched, developed, and licensed from marine resources such as the antibiotic cephalosporin C, the cancer treatment drugs Cytarabine, Nelarabine, etc.; antiviral drugs: vidarabine, diabetes treatment drugs; drugs to treat and prevent cardiovascular disease and stroke such as EPA and DHA from fish, etc.

Associate Professor, Dr. Pham Duc Thinh (Nha Trang Institute of Technology Research and Application) said that marine organisms growing and developing in harsh conditions create compounds with many biological activities such as antibacterial properties, anti-cancer support, anti-inflammatory properties, immune enhancement, anti-aging properties, antibacterial properties, moisturizers, etc.

In the Central region, Phu Yen is one of the localities with great potential for marine medicinal herbs. Ms. Cao Thi Hoa An, Standing Deputy Secretary of the Provincial Party Committee, Chairman of the People's Council of Phu Yen province, said that along with 27 other coastal provinces and cities in the country, Phu Yen with a coastline of more than 189km, a sea area of ​​about 34,000km2, has many advantages in terms of sea, quite diverse in biology and has many typical aquatic species used as precious medicinal herbs such as seahorses, sea cucumbers... Therefore, the locality is very interested in promoting the advantages of the sea, proposing many solutions to develop the marine economy. Up to now, although the province does not have a facility for cultivating marine medicinal herbs on a commercial scale, it is also very interested in implementing a number of research models for cultivating marine medicinal herbs suitable for the locality such as researching the commercial cultivation of sea worms, sea cucumbers...

Vietnam has great potential to develop marine medicinal herbs.

Promoting research and production of marine medicinal herbs

In fact, developing pharmaceutical production from Vietnam's marine biological medicinal resources is an important and necessary direction, and at the same time a long-term strategy that needs attention and investment, aiming to develop the pharmaceutical production industry from marine biological medicinal resources at the international level... Although there is a lot of potential, according to Associate Professor, Dr. Pham Duc Thinh, although our country has a long coastline and diverse marine life, research on marine medicinal materials is still very limited and is still in the initial stage, promoting added value from marine medicinal materials still has limitations.

Currently, there are still many problems to be solved in the research of marine medicinal materials. In particular, the collection of marine biological samples is facing many difficulties, especially collecting samples in offshore waters and samples in deep sea areas due to the lack of specialized ships for marine survey and research, and the lack of specialized equipment for deep sea exploration and sample collection. In addition, the introduction of new drugs to the market is a highly selective process in which only the most suitable compounds can survive...

Therefore, to develop the marine medicinal herbs industry, Deputy Minister of Health Do Xuan Tuyen said that localities, ministries and branches need to have opinions on building specific policies in developing marine medicinal herbs in each region of the country. In particular, prioritizing investment and focusing on developing specific marine medicinal herbs with high economic value. At the same time, ministries, departments and branches need to coordinate to build policies to preserve and protect the genetic resources of marine medicinal herbs...

Coastal localities also need to specifically plan areas for cultivating and developing marine medicinal herbs. On that basis, scientists and experts will have an advantage in coming to do research. At the same time, it is necessary to build a system to trace the origin of marine medicinal herbs. Inspect and strictly handle organizations and individuals who bring marine medicinal herbs of unknown origin to the market. At the same time, regions need to form linkage chains in cultivating and processing marine medicinal herbs, especially reviewing. In addition, there should be mechanisms and policies to support people and businesses in cultivating, exploiting and developing high-quality products from marine medicinal herbs. From there, diverse products from marine medicinal herbs such as medicines, functional foods, cosmetics, etc. will be produced, contributing to creating health protection products from marine medicinal herbs.

Source: https://thoibaonganhang.vn/thuc-day-gia-tri-gia-tang-tu-duoc-lieu-bien-154929.html