IN a Fiji Times report from May 4, 1996, Pacific traditional medicine was in the spotlight as pharmaceutical giants began showing growing interest in the South Pacific’s vast reserves of botanical and marine knowledge.
The director of the Pacific Concerns Resource Centre Inc, Lopeti Senituli, described the region as “the last, unconquered frontier as far as knowledge of biological resources was concerned”.
“The pharmaceutical companies have catalogued the biological resources of nearly every other part of the world and now they are showing interest in the South Pacific, especially in Papua New Guinea, the Solomons, Vanuatu and even Fiji to a certain extent,” he said.
Mr Senituli explained that the immense diversity of plant and animal species in tropical countries was of great interest to pharmaceutical companies, as many could contain compounds useful for medicine.
This surge of interest was fuelled by new technology allowing scientists to identify valuable compounds more quickly. One such initiative involved SmithKline Beecham, makers of Panadol, which planned a project to analyse herbal extracts from Fiji.
University of the South Pacific chemist Dr Bill Aalbersberg led the local part of the project, explaining that the first step was to determine the usefulness of herbal extracts.
“The sudden increase of interest in traditional herbal medicine was part of a worldwide trend; scientists are beginning to recognise that there are some values in these plants,” he said.
He added that about 25 per cent of drugs used globally came from herbal sources, generating roughly $US25 billion annually, and that doctors were finding some Western drugs less effective than traditional herbal extracts for certain people.
The project involved two local villages supplying herbs and marine organisms, which the university would process into oils.
“So, if the villages collect one pound of materials, the oil the USP will extract will amount to about one small vial worth about $US100. This is what we will send SmithKline Beecham for analysis,” Dr Aalbersberg said.
Several local plants had already shown promising results. Totodro, or Asiatic pennywort, had been found 100 per cent effective in treating tumours outside the body and showed promise in enhancing the cognitive abilities of intellectually handicapped children. Rosy periwinkle demonstrated a 50 per cent success rate in treating leukaemia, and of course, yaqona (kava) was highlighted for its medicinal potential.
“The US has, like the Germans before it, just discovered the huge potential it has, and the US is the largest market for this,” he said.
Dr Aalbersberg noted German companies earned millions from plant-based compounds.
The director of East Earth Herb Inc, a major US supplier of yaqona extracts, believed that cultivating strains rich in active ingredients could command up to $US100 per kilogram.
“As we diversify, people here could grow these plants in small plots on one acre of land instead of sugarcane on seven acres.
“There are two aspects here.
“The first is people in Fiji can grow yaqona for local use.
“The second aspect is they could grow it for its active ingredients.
“There’s a gold mine out there in our trees.”
Mr Senituli warned of the risks posed by overseas companies patenting traditional knowledge.
“Most of us are unaware this was occurring and the majority of Pacific Islands including Fiji do not have laws to control it,” he said.
The PCRC had prepared a protocol for biological prospecting, emphasising the protection, respect, and conservation of traditional medicines, as well as the rights of Pacific people to their knowledge.
“For the first time in Fiji we are trying to get a legal agreement that if a drug was developed from extracts of local herbs, the returns will be shared between the pharmaceutical company and the traditional suppliers,” Dr Aalbersberg said.
He drew a parallel with fishing:
“Overseas fishing fleets come to our waters to fish.
“They can take their catch and then sell it back to us again.
“They (the overseas companies) have stolen our forests, our fish and now they are stealing our mineral resources.
“Let’s not let the same thing happen with traditional medicine.”
