Unani medicines to be patented

They might have tried stealing haldi, but you can be sure joshanda is safe. To make sure Indian alternative medicinal forms remain the count...

They might have tried stealing haldi, but you can be sure joshanda is safe. To make sure Indian alternative medicinal forms remain the country’s heritage, the Ministry of Health has decided to transcript all Unani medicine formulations in four European languages and Japanese.

The Rs 3.5-crore project has been undertaken by the Ministry’s Department of AYUSH (an acronym for Ayurveda, Yoga & Naturopathy, Unani, Siddha and Homoeopathy) and the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR). In its first phase, the project aims to transcript about 75,000 Unani formulations in English, German, Spanish, French and Japanese. Grants have been allotted for two-and-a-half years. The second phase would transcript an equal number of formulations.

‘‘The translations would be done in a patent applicable format so that nobody can lay a claim on these formulations. The five languages have been chosen as most of the important patent offices like US Patent and Trade Mark Office, are based in these countries. About 90 per cent patents are granted by these countries only,’’ said a CSIR official.

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The transcripts would list formulations, their ingredients and diseases against which the medicines can be used. CSIR scientists would also list how to prepare the medicine and its dosage.

The entire procedure would include transcripting available literature on this alternate form of medicine. ‘‘For CSIR staff, the process is going to be cumbersome. Transcription would include the Unani Pharmacopoeia and all authenticated books on the subject,’’ the official said

This means translating more than 40 books listed in Drugs and Cosmetics Act. According to CSIR, all the formulations are either in Persian, Urdu or Arabic and the institute would employ extra staff for translating the formulations into English. ‘‘Unani is a vast field and a highly accepted form of alternative medicine. In India, we have colleges and universities teaching it. People are doing PhDs in the field so the need for patenting is grave,’’ said a CSIR scientist. About 35,000 Ayurvedic formulations have been put out in patented form by the Health Ministry. After Unani, the focus will be on Siddha — the South Indian form of alternative medicine. ‘‘We are a country with rich medicinal heritage and the steps have been taken to ensure our traditions are safe,’’ the official said.