KARACHI: A comprehensive data on Sindh`s medicinal plants traditionally being used for various skin diseases has been developed by Karachi University`s International Centre for Chemical and Biological Sciences (ICCBS) under a four-year project funded by the Sindh government.

This was stated by Dr Mohammad IqbalChoudhary,one ofthekeyinvestigators of the research project and director of the ICCBS, while speaking at a press conference held at the LEJ National Science Information Centre at the KU on Wednesday.

`The province-wide survey is the first step towards preservation of our indigenous knowledge related to traditional medicine. And, we couldn`t have achieved this without the help of the Sindh government that provided us with Rs23 million to compile authentic ethnobotanical information and foll< medicinal practices,` said Dr Chaudhary, adding that a website (www.folkmedsindh.com.pl() on the project details would be official launched on Friday.

The project titled Survey documentation and scientinc studies of plant remedies used for the treatment ofinfectious skin diseases in Sindh, he said, would also help tackle biopiracy.

`In recent times there have been attempts in the western world to commit biopiracy, a situation where indigenous knowledge and traditional practices of native people is used by others for profit without permission from and with little or no compensation or recognition to the indigenous people themselves,` he explained.

In this context, he gave the example of a case in which a US multinational company made a claim on the usefulness of turmeric to relieve pain and inflammation a few years ago. The attempt was foiled by India that proved that the spice had been in use in the subcontinent for centuries.

`If the company was allowed to acquire a patent, nobody else could make use of turmeric without the company`s permission. And, while biopiracy is being committed in all fields, there is hardly any awareness about the issue in Pakistan,` he said, emphasising that there should be initiatives in the country to preserve traditional knowledge and practices.

Sindh with one of the most ancient civilisations of the world, he noted, had a vast knowledge and unbroken tradition of use of plants for a variety of purposes. This knowledge accumu-lated over the years, he observed, was a precious heritage and deserved to be protectedforthe benehtoffuture generations as well as to foil attempts of biopiracy and unjustified patenting by others by placing them in the public domain.

Replying to a question as to why the project was limited to exploring plants having healing properties for skin diseases,he pointed out thatthe prevalence of sl(in ailments in the province was too high due to abject poverty and presence of unhygienic conditions.

`Also because there is hardly any female skin specialist in the interior parts of Sindh where 90pc people depend on herbal treatment for skin infections,` he said, adding that five plants had been selected for human clinical trials to be funded by the government.

Dr Atla-tul-Wahab, the other investigator in the project, said that a total of 132 plants were identified during the field surveys in which the research teams also documented how rural communities were using these species.

`All districts of Sindh were covered.

A number of plant samples have been analysed at our laboratories and shown potency activity against fungal and bacterial infections,` she said.