Significant advances in information and technology, globalization, and increased awareness of health, limitations of conventional medicine, and awareness of the significance of natural, traditional medicines are leading to a constantly increasing global demand for traditional medicine, which in turn can lead to the practice of polypharmacy and susceptibility to drug-drug interactions. Although the role of traditional medicines in universal health coverage, public health has been well acknowledged globally, paucity on their drug-drug interactions is one among the major hurdles for its mass level globalization and easy, hassle-free incorporation into national health policy. Several countries have an integrative health care policy, but many more run a parallel health care system at the national level. There is a dire need for a policy framework, models, plans to continuously evaluate, monitor, analyse, and convey the safety of Traditional medicine (TM) with respect to drug-drug interactions. The article elaborates the need, scope, and challenges in monitoring, analysing drug-drug interactions of traditional medicines for optimization of their therapeutic utility and suggests a way forward with excerpts of integration of Ayush medicines; TMs of India in national health policy, health care delivery, and pharmacovigilance monitoring as used case.
Tanuja Manoj Nesari (Tue,) studied this question.