Formulations of the Indian Systems need to be standardised and improved to satisfy the expectations of the modern day medical science with regard to efficacy, side effects and affordability to common man, according to Dr V Gopal, a leading scientist and researcher of Indian System of Medicines.

In a national seminar organised by the Pharmacy Department of Madras Medical College (MMC), Dr Gopal, who is also the principal of Government College of Pharmacy at Mother Teresa Post Graduate and Research Institute of Health Sciences, Pondicherry, said that though the Indian System has a great reputation, it has not adopted modern scientific methods to keep itself abreast of the current trends in the field of modern medicines.

"In the case of packaging, stability, scale up and bulk drug production, we should follow modern tools to develop the system as the number of people who are using the system is increasing day by day. Whereas, the application of traditional tools should not be altered from the areas where the pharmacological and pharmacognostical evaluations are taken place," he asserted. In a paper presented by him, Dr Gopal has elaborated some important areas of the Traditional method where in the attention of all stake holders is required to develop the system to be at par with the allopathic method.

As a first preference, he laid emphasis on the establishment of a Taxonomical Identity of the raw materials used for the ISM formulations. Proper identification of the drugs of natural origin is very important as vernacular names are often misleading. Further the scientist said, identification of adulterants is necessary as ever increasing demand and modernisation has depleted the supply of drugs of natural origin. Since the possibility of adulteration or sub standard supply has increased, standard specification-consistent supply of ISM raw materials has to be ensured with advanced pharmacognostical study.
Besides checking the quality of the raw materials, Dr Gopal wanted that elaborate toxicity studies for formulations must be carried out since scientific data might not be available for them. Similarly, in the case of quality control, due importance must be given for processing, and for finished products quality controlling.

Later while speaking to Pharmabiz, he said, "Presently many researchers are evaluating the traditional system of medicines with the tools of modern medicine. This is not advisable in all respects. In certain cases it can be, but while the approach of ISM is of holistic nature, the traditional way of evaluation is also required. Industrialization, habitual destruction, natural disasters and introduction of exotic species have caused the extinction of many drugs of natural origin. In those areas new scientific strategies must be evolved to tackle the problems and to conserve our natural heritage."

Dr Gopal, who is doing researches in Indian System of Medicines, has called upon the pharmacy researchers and scientists to work for the scientific standardisation of ISM formulations to be at par with Allopathy. He said only after 1963, the provisions of the Drugs and Cosmetics Act of 1940 were extended to ISM formulations in chapter 6 and schedules 2. Patent and Proprietary Herbal Medicines were brought under the purview of law only in 1982 by amendment of the Act. Hence, development and implementation of regulating models for the Indian method is the need of the hour.