Abstract(s) :

(Anglais) Many herbal preparations are commonly used worldwide, whether for primary health care or as complementary and alternative medicine. The WHO now recognizes the contributions that traditional and complementary medicine (T & CM) can bring to the welfare of individuals but more especially their impact in developing countries health systems. In China, Korea, India, Vietnam, certain types of T & CM are already fully integrated into national health systems. By contrast, in most other countries, the T & CM are only partially, if at all, integrated, resulting in uncontrolled practices that cause problems to public health. In order to properly integrate the T & CM services in their health systems, many countries need to acquire knowledge and experience in the field to enable them to ensure the quality, safety and effectiveness of T & CM and regulate practices and practitioners. The major challenges and problems associated with the integration of traditional medicines, the procedures recommended by the WHO and the means of their practical application will be illustrated through the pilot project PhytoKat, a Congolese-Belgian development project being implemented in Katanga, D.R. Congo to train young scientists to investigate: (i) the conditions for the introduction of traditional practices in modern medicine (quality of the traditional praticians and diagnostics; quality, efficiency, safety of their treatments); (ii) the documentation of herbal medicines used, considering the ethnomedical, botanical, chemical and biological aspects; (iii) the possibilities of conservation and local production, in a context of regional erosion of plant diversity and excessive harvesting of some vulnerable medicinal species; (iv) a possible local definition of "well-established" and "traditional" uses. Acknowledgements: The ARES (Academie de Recherche et de l’Enseignement Supérieur) is gratefully acknowledged for financial support