Abstract

TAVARES GONCALVES, Nylza Maria; DUARTE CARVALHO VILA, Marta Maria; GERENUTTI, Marli  and  SIQUEIRA DE ALMEIDA CHAVES, Douglas. Health policies on phytotherapy in Brazil. Rev Cubana Plant Med [online]. 2013, vol.18, n.4, pp. 632-637. ISSN 1028-4796.

Introduction: the worldwide increase in the use of medicinal plants has been attributed to factors like the high cost of industrial drugs, the lack of public access to health and pharmaceutical care, and the tendency of consumers to use natural products. Phytotherapy has been included in the Brazilian Unified Health System in compliance with the National policy on integrated and complementary practices and as part of the global strategy to foster the use of medicinal plants and phytomedicines in the treatment of health disorders. Objective: present a brief history of Brazilian legislation on herbal medicine and discuss the effectiveness of those guidelines for the application of phytotherapy within the Unified Health System. Methods: the study focused on the analysis of Brazilian legislation on medicinal plants and herbal medicines. Results: it was found that although there is a trend in government policies toward the use of medicinal plants and herbal medicines, the resulting legislation does not provide the instruments required to improve product quality. Conclusions: well-defined procedures should be established for the implementation of phytotherapy within the general care of the population as a more affordable health care alternative.

Keywords : medicinal plants; phytotherapy; national health system.

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