Physicians of Tibetan Medicines raised concern over the United Nation’s pushing for ban on mercury contained pharmaceuticals and use of mercury in medicines for commercial purpose from January next year.

The concern was voiced by the physicians of the international Tibetan community who assembled at the exile Tibetan headquarters of Dharmashala in Himachal Pradesh recently for the second international conference on Tibetan Medicine.

The ban will also impact the manufacture, sale and export of Indian system of medicines such as Siddha, Ayurveda and Unani, it is learnt. Other than herbal drugs, the declaration asks for reducing mercury-exposure risks from all mercury containing medical products including vaccines.

The United Nations has declared a ban on mercury use for manufacturing medicines for commercial purpose from January 2013, which would affect the traditional medical system, Sowa Rigpa practised in Tibet and in several parts of India by the Tibetan community.

Dr T Thirunarayanan, secretary of Centre for Traditional Medicines & Research (CTMR), Chennai, who attended the conference as a delegate of Siddha community, said many of the Indian drugs including Siddha, Ayurveda and the Tibetan medicines contain some element of mercury. If it is forbidden, it will affect the efficacy of these drugs.

The delegates in the conference who came from all over the world were apprehensive that the ban would take away many of the traditional medicines from the market. Mercury is one of the core ingredients of the preparation and without it some major drugs cannot be manufactured. Sharing their views with Pharmabiz, Dr Thirunarayanan said research  studies have clearly confirmed the safety of detoxified mercurial salts being used in traditional drugs. But he clarified that efforts should be taken to ensure that the use of mercury should not make any side effect for the drugs.

Because of the reported use of mercury and other heavy metals in herbal medicines,  two years ago, the Canadian government had banned the import of ayurvedic drugs. A study paper published in American Medical Association found dangerous levels of heavy metals in ayurvedic drugs. There was report that Unani and Homoeopathic medicine were under close monitoring in most part of Europe due to high level of heavy metals. The UN has decided to ban the use of mercury contained products in the event of possible side effects caused by this toxic element, said Dr Thirunarayanan.

The conference was jointly organised by the Central Council of Tibetan Medicine, and Department of Sowa Rigpa of the Central University of Tibetan Studies, Varanasi. More than 300 doctors, representing different medical systems from all over the world, including India, US, Israel, Russia, Mongolia, Spain, Latvia, Italy, China, and Japan took part in the conference.

Dr T Thirunarayanan, the Siddha physician from Chennai, delivered on Siddha system in the plenary session of the conference.

The Tibetan exiled leader H H Dalai Lama inaugurated the conference who wanted the traditional doctors of the system to jointly work with the researchers of Indian system for further development of the method.