Traditional Chinese medicine patients are set to pay more for
their remedies this year because of dwindling herb supplies.
The prices of 262 frequently used herbs-- 52.4 percent of the
key 500 herbs -- rose in the first half year, according to China
Association of Traditional Chinese Medicine and Pharmacy (CATCMP)
Monday.
The cost of several commonly used medicinal herbs had surged
rapidly, such as the angelica, a blood tonic, up from 10 yuan (1.31
US dollars) to 60 yuan per kilogram, and one rare herb, saffron
crocus, a remedy for gynecological ailments, rose from 5,000 yuan
to 8,000 yuan a kilogram.
Besides paying more in drugstores, Chinese consumers will also
pay more for prepared Chinese medicines, said Wang Ying, vice
chairman of the CATCMP.
"With the rapid increase in agricultural product prices last
year, many herb farmers switched to planting agricultural
products," said Wang.
"Because of a lack of guiding information on demand and supply,
farmers were unable to choose the right herbs to plant.
"In addition, the huge consumption of wild herbs also drove the
price of herbs up, " Wang said.
Liu Yanhua, Vice Minister of Science and Technology, said, "The
traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) related industry realized
added-value of 112.769 billion yuan and exports of TCM-related
products exceeded one billion yuan last year."
(Xinhua News Agency August 8, 2007)
