Exploit herbal knowledge, reap benefits, UWI expert urges

A UWI medicines expert is urging Barbadians with distinctive knowledge of the medicinal benefits from commonly found plants to turn that knowledge into something profitable.

Dr Damian Cohall, a senior lecturer in pharmacology at the University of the West Indies at Cave Hill, said it was about time that Barbados reap dividends from the medicinal values of plants growing here which have been used widely by ancestors down through the years.

He recommended that Barbadians with knowledge of plants with medicinal properties for various illnesses should engage scientists and develop intellectual property.

Dr Cohall said: “Just to remind you of the Caribbean precedence in terms of our own investigations of Madagascar Periwinkle for Vinca Alkaloids; work started in the Caribbean but we missed out on that because we weren’t as wise then as we are wise now when it comes to intellectual property.

“Your intellectual property, our ancestors’ knowledge that was passed down onto us, we have this rich knowledge of the use of herbs. That is information that if captured in a very objective way can be regarded as intellectual property.”

The pharmacologist was addressing the second in a series of local healing herbs discussion on Wednesday night, organized by the group Reasoning Online About Revolution (ROAR).

The forum was titled Backyard Bushes – Identifying Healing Herbs and their Benefits.

Dr Cohall said he believed that as people around the world continued to look for more natural ways to heal various illnesses and lesions and as the pharmaceutical industry continued to grow, Barbados had the potential to benefit.

He said: “The only problem is if it is common knowledge you can’t consider it intellectual property, but if you have information that you know is only with you or was pass down through your family, and you know there is some scientific merit to it then you can formalize that through documenting it, have that information protected via the various intellectual property rules that exist, even here in Barbados, and you can capture that.

“So every time you go to have a meeting with a scientist or if a pharmaceutical company was ever to come to Barbados and hear you have this very important piece of scientific information here, then you can leverage that intellectual property because it has value. In the pharmaceutical industry, a lot of companies make money not by selling drugs but by owning intellectual property. We have a whole [opportunity] here in our gardens outside that we are not preserving and capturing as intellectual property to benefit from it.”

At the same time, the Jamaican academic warned that “we cannot get too greedy”, adding that he was aware it could be tempting for some people to keep information to themselves.

Dr Cohall declared: “We cannot get too greedy to the point where we have medicines in our gardens and because we get too selfish about sharing that information, we hold it to our chest and say ‘it is intellectual property and it is only for me’ . . . keep in mind that herbs were made for the healing of the nation.

“So whatever you do, whenever you do find a medicinal plant or come upon information that you think is important, it is good to capture that information and you can protect it, but you can still share the benefits of it.”

During the online forum, Dr Cohall outlined several benefits of a variety of plants commonly grown across the island, while sharing tips on the best use of some of them in order to get the maximum benefits and avoid toxicity.

“We have to be careful because sometimes we love to overdo things. I always preach moderation,” he said, warning that based on the method of preparation one could get both benefits and potential toxic effects from a concoction. “So we have to be mindful of that.”

He also warned against mixing herbal remedies with conventional medication.

“We should always feel open to discussing these with your physician,” he said. (MM)