Drug demand threatens vital medicinal plants

By Salamander Davoudi in London

Traducción al español aqui

Habitat destruction and the increasing demand for drugs are threatening to wipe out some of the world’s most important medicinal plant species and could spark a global healthcare crisis, according to leading experts.

A global survey carried out by more than 100 botanists and other scientists has found that more than 10,000 species of medicinal plants face extinction, including many used in prescription drugs that cannot be commercially synthesised.

Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2008

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