January 19, 2005, 13:30
China has launched a scheme to protect indigenous knowledge amid the government's discussions about exempting traditional medicines from the same testing as modern medicines. A particular concern, according to a report by the Science and Development Network, is how to protect traditional medicine from being exploited commercially without appropriate sharing of benefits.
The programme, which began this month, could lead mainland China to create online libraries of databases relating to traditional medicine and intellectual property. The aim is to prevent traditional medicine from being used commercially by foreign companies without payment, says Liu Changhua, the chairperson of the programme and a professor at the Chinese Academy of Traditional Chinese Medicine.
Lui told reporters that ancient books refer to more than 400 000 herbal remedies using 20 000 plant species. International pharmaceutical companies have developed products based on many of these traditional remedies.
According to Liu, the World Health Organisation (WHO) estimates that traditional therapies produce $60 billion in profit annually, but indigenous communities, including those in China, have received few benefits. Rights to use indigenous knowledge need to be protected, says Liu, but cannot use China's current intellectual property rights framework.
One problem, he says, is that intellectual property rights are legally the right of private individuals or organisations whereas indigenous knowledge mostly belongs to local communities, often represented by national governments. The same issues face South Africa's traditional healers.
Given the breadth of indigenous knowledge underpinning traditional medicine, says Lui, two issues to be solved are to determine what should be protected, and what can feasibly be protected. To address the situation, the protection programme is creating a classification of traditional China medicine knowledge and identifying fields with commercial potential.
The programme will also study ownership of indigenous knowledge and classify fields of medicine as being patentable or not. It will publish its findings and recommendations in June.
Digital traditional library
Lui says that if China's State Administration of Traditional Chinese Medicine accepts the report's recommendations, the government could invest 100 million yuan ($1.2 million) to develop a digital library of traditional medical knowledge and a large database of patents. "India has set a good example by establishing a digital library of its indigenous medical knowledge, and we can follow its example," he adds.
Shen Zhixiang, a senior official at State Administration of Traditional Chinese Medicine, said recently that the administration would apply to add to add traditional Chinese medicine to United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation's (Unesco) list of 'non-material heritage'.
China has signed agreements with 17 countries, including Ireland, Italy and Norway, to jointly develop products based on traditional Chinese remedies, said Zhixiang. Emphasising the growing international profile of Chinese remedies, he added that there are now more than 50 000 Chinese medicine clinics in 130 countries.
According to the State Administration of Traditional Chinese Medicine, China spent $966 million researching, preserving and improving education about traditional herbs and healing between 2000 and last year. - SciDev.Net
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