Abstract
The International Conference “Promotion and Development of Botanicals With International Coordination: Exploring Quality, Safety, Efficacy, and Regulations” was organized by the School of Natural Product Studies, Jadavpur University, Kolkata, India. This article presents the background, objectives, and highlights of the presentations of different plenary, oral, and poster sessions. The conference was supported by the Drug Information Association of the United States. Different organizations of the government of India such as the National Medicinal Plants Board (NMPB); Department of Ayurveda, Yoga, Unani, Siddha, and Homeopathy (AYUSH); Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR); Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR); and Defence Research Development Organization (DRDO) also supported this international event. The key topics were as follows: Developing Botanicals Through International Coordination; Exploring Traditional Medicine for Development of Herbal Drugs; Regulatory Perspective for Development of Herbals; Health Care Resources—Impact of Natural (Traditional) Medicines; Ethnobotany and Ethnopharmacology in Natural Product Development: Global Perspectives; Pharmacovigilance of Natural Health Products—Evaluating Safety and Toxicity; and Industrial Perspectives and Development of Phytomedicines. Conference attendees included a variety of stakeholders: manufacturers of raw materials, phytomedicines, pharmaceuticals, and dietary and food supplements; representatives of conventional and traditional health care systems; sellers and distributors; regulatory authorities; standard-setting organizations; contract laboratories and research organizations, nongovernmental organizations, academicians, scientists, and health care practitioners. The conference also provided educational opportunities for pharmacists, pharmacognosists, physicians, phytochemists, botanists, ethnobotanists, ethnopharmacologists, pharmacologists, toxicologists, and others involved in the research, evaluation, development, and marketing of botanicals and natural products for use in health care. More than 350 delegates from different countries, including scientists/researchers from the United States, Canada, United Kingdom, Brazil, The Netherlands, France, South Africa, Iran, Thailand, Fiji, and India, participated in the conference from different fields of herbal research. As Director of the School of Natural Products Studies, I was the organizing secretary of this international event.
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