Siu-Po IP
The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong
Title: The Development of Standards for Quality Control of Herbal Medicines
Biography
Biography: Siu-Po IP
Abstract
Herbal medicines have used for thousands of years and they are recognized as safe and effective remedies for the prevention and treatment of diseases. However, the herbal materials are usually obtained from natural sources and they are often criticized for their lack of quality control. The quality of herbal drugs can be affected by many factors including source, geographic location, growing conditions, harvesting season, and processing procedures. Therefore, it is necessary to develop regulatory standards to control the quality of herbal medicines. The Hong Kong Chinese Materia Medica Standards (HKCMMS) project was launched in 2002 by Department of Health, HKSAR Government to develop standards for commonly used herbal drugs to ensure the safe use and the quality of the drugs. Now, it has become widely recognized reference standards for Chinese medicine traders, laboratories in the field of Chinese medicine testing and certification, and some overseas organisations. The HKCMMS project is under the guidance of the International Advisory Board which consists of international renowned experts. The research works for the development of chromatographic methods are conducted by research teams from seven local and overseas research institutes and the National Institutes for Food and Drug Control, China. Our research team had participated in the HKCMMS project since its beginning and contributed significantly to the successful implementation of the project. Up to now, 236 monographs were published in 7 volumes of HKCMMS. Among of them, the research works of 47 monographs were totally contributed by our research team.