The World Health Organization began a three-day meeting in Hong Kong on Tuesday to discuss the development of an International Herbal Pharmacopoeia (IHP), a pivotal step for the WHO to address the challenges of regulation, standardization, and quality assurance of herbal products.

The meeting aims to discuss the roadmap for developing the IHP and other related issues in IHP development, such as the draft outline, scope and framework of the IHP and the working mechanism for its development.

“This (IHP) not only provides a globally recognized reference to ensure the quality and safety of herbal medicines but also promotes the rational use of herbal medicines in clinical practice,” the government said in a statement.

As the WHO’s collaborating center for traditional medicine, the Chinese Medicine Regulatory Office (CMRO) of the Department of Health has been requested by the WHO to provide technical inputs for the development of safety and quality standards for herbal medicine.

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On Hong Kong’s contribution to the development of traditional medicine, Dr Kim Sungchol, head of the Traditional, Complementary and Integrative Medicine Unit of the WHO, said the Government Chinese Medicines Testing Institute (GCMTI) of Hong Kong is a well-established laboratory dedicated to setting high standards for the safety and quality of Chinese medicines.

“With its specialized herbarium focused on Lingnan herbal medicine, the GCMTI serves as a vital resource for comparative studies, demonstrating the synergy between traditional knowledge and modern scientific practices.”

Pointing out that herbal medicines have played a critical role in healthcare for centuries, Director of Health Dr Ronald Lam Man-kin said at the opening session, “Across the globe, herbal medicines have been integral to healthcare systems and have assumed a significant role in promoting health and well-being for millions of people.”

While updating participants on Hong Kong's progress in developing safety and quality control for Chinese medicines, he said the Hong Kong Chinese Materia Medica Standards (HKCMMS) project launched in 2002 has formulated safety and quality standards for local commonly used Chinese herbal medicines.

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As of now, standards for 330 Chinese Materia Medica have been established under the HKCMMS project, and more are in the pipeline, he added.

In his opening remarks via video, Dr Rudi Eggers, director of the Department of Integrated Health Services of the WHO, thanked Hong Kong for organizing the key meeting.

Among the participants in the meeting were renowned international experts from the WHO and its six regions – Africa, the Americas, the Eastern Mediterranean, Europe, Southeast Asia, and the Western Pacific. An expert from Hong Kong was elected as one of the rapporteurs for the meeting.