Abstract
This remarkable new book is the first text dedicated to the topic of pharmacovigilance for herbal and traditional medicines. Taking a truly global perspective, this volume draws together contributions from a diverse group of experts, writing on current knowledge and practices in pharmacovigilance for herbal and traditional medicines, and on advances and innovation in monitoring the safety of this unique and complex category of products and preparations. In part one, the book discusses the current status of pharmacovigilance for herbal and traditional medicines, including the importance of natural products chemistry to harms, and its relevance in considering how pharmacovigilance for these products could be undertaken. Several other chapters discuss methodological approaches and ongoing challenges in pharmacovigilance for herbal and traditional medicines, including issues relating to nomenclature, coding and classification, and the nuances involved in causality assessment. Part two of the book focusses on pharmacovigilance for herbal and traditional medicines around the world, with chapters from authors in several different countries representing diverse historical, ethnic, cultural, social and political contexts. These chapters provide deeper insights and perspectives into spontaneous reporting for herbal and traditional medicines in those countries, and in the context of the local use, practice and regulatory landscape for these products. Part two also provides an overview and new analysis of international case safety reports for herbal medicines held in VigiBase (the World Health Organization's global database of individual case safety reports, maintained by the Uppsala Monitoring Centre).This book is aimed at pharmacists, doctors, nurses and other health professionals, herbal-medicine practitioners and organisations, herbal medicine and pharmaceutical industry personnel, pharmacovigilance specialists, medicines' regulators, health and social science researchers and academics, pharmacovigilance and health professional students, and students of herbal and traditional medicine, throughout the world. It is an extremely valuable resource for all individuals whose work touches the intersection between herbal medicines and pharmacovigilance, and it provides both an introduction to the topic and a deeper, comprehensive, contemporary account of the topic.