INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON CHINESE HERBAL MEDICINE

University Of Maryland College Pk Campus, College Park MD

Investigators

Abstract

The herbal medicine industry is one of the fastest growing business in the health care sector in the U.S. The estimated total sale of herbal products increased from $1.2 billion in 1992 to $4 billion in 1998. One of three Americans uses herbal products to treat health symptoms ranging from depression and colds to AIDS. Even though there are hundreds of herbal remedies on the mass market, a great majority of them use the same ten to fifteen herbs. With the exception of ginseng, which is mostly produced in Wisconsin, there are hardly any Chinese herbal medicines making their way into this fast growing market. Traditional Chinese herbal medicines (TCM) have been perfected in China for thousands of years. They are used alongside Western medicine in the world's most populous nation with great success. Th can be the most important contribution to the world's health care system for the 21st century if understood and trusted by Westerners. The Institute for Global Chinese Affairs (IGCA) at the University of Maryland is organizing an international conference on Traditional Chinese Medicine: Science, regulation and globalization, at the University of Maryland, College Park, August 30 to September 2, 2000. The main focus of the conference will be: 1. Introduction of science and technology to the standardization and modernization of TCM. 2. Clinical validation of the safety and efficacy of TCM 3. New government initiatives in promoting TCM in Asia 4. Globalization and marketing of TCM IGCA is starting a program on the globalization of TCM to serve as a bridge which will facilitate the exchange of the eastern knowledge of TCM and western technologies. In the vicinity of the world's best biomedical research institution, the National Institutes of Health, and the most authoritative regulatory agency, the Food and Drug Administration, and Access to a large pool of human resources in the faculty and study body at the University of Maryland College Park, IGCA is well suited to host this international conference which will be co-sponsored by the Chinese Ministry of Science and Technology, Chinese Academia Sinica, the University of Beijing and University of Chicago.