Perfecting mechanisms and policies to promote digital transformation to trace the origin and transparency of medicinal material chains

SKĐS - Applying digital technology to trace the origin and transparency of medicinal herbs - An inevitable direction to promote the value of Vietnamese traditional medicine and medicinal herbs.

1. Current status of the medicinal materials chain and the need for transparency

Content

• 1. Current status of the medicinal materials chain and the need for transparency
• 2. Digital technology helps Vietnamese medicinal herbs become transparent and integrated
• 3. Need to improve mechanisms, institutions and legal corridors

Associate Professor, Dr. Pham Thanh Huyen, Director of the Center for Medicinal Resources (Institute of Medicinal Materials - Ministry of Health ) said that Vietnam currently has more than 5,000 species of medicinal plants.

However, due to years of exploitation without paying attention to protection and regeneration or exploitation without a process, many of them are facing the risk of extinction, and the quality of medicinal herbs from natural exploitation is not guaranteed.

The situation of unknown origin, mixing, confusion, and smuggling of medicinal materials still occurs, greatly affecting the quality of raw materials and medicinal products. At the same time, it also affects the trust of consumers in medicinal products and traditional medicine. At the same time, there are also difficulties in the management and supervision of competent authorities.

Meanwhile, the demand for domestic medicinal herbs is increasing, both in the production of medicines, health food and for export. The lack of transparency in origin and quality has made the value of Vietnamese medicinal herbs not yet confirmed to match its potential.

Seven leaves one flower - A precious medicinal herb in danger of extinction.

2. Digital technology helps Vietnamese medicinal herbs become transparent and integrated

Associate Professor, Dr. Pham Thanh Huyen said that digital technology is the key to modernizing the management and promoting the value of medicinal herbs. Digital technology opens up great opportunities to trace the entire process of medicinal herb production, from the accuracy and quality of the seed source, the exploitation/growing area, the process of exploiting/growing medicinal plants, harvesting, preliminary processing/processing, preservation, and distribution. Thanks to electronic traceability, we can control the entire process to ensure transparent quality. This is the basis for people, businesses and management agencies to trust, contributing to bringing Vietnamese medicinal herbs deeper into the global supply chain.

Solutions being researched and applied include:

- Build a comprehensive and accurate database of medicinal herbs from specialized research units.

- QR code for traceability: Each batch of medicinal herbs is assigned an electronic identification code containing information about the growing area, production household, harvesting and testing process, and distribution unit.

- Blockchain: Stores transparent, uneditable data, ensures authenticity and prevents information from being falsified.

- GIS, IoT and big data technology: Support monitoring of growing areas, growing conditions, cultivation and early warning of disease risks or violations of standards.

Thanks to that, consumers, businesses and management agencies can monitor and verify the quality of medicinal herbs in real time, increasing market confidence and Vietnamese brand value.

Growing ginseng in Bac Giang .

3. Need to improve mechanisms, institutions and legal corridors

Applying digital technology is an inevitable step in the development strategy of Vietnamese Traditional Medicine and Medicinal Herbs:

- Applying digital technology not only serves traceability, but is also a tool to preserve indigenous knowledge and traditional experiences that are at risk of being lost.

- Data on medicinal resources, medicinal plants, folk remedies, chemical composition, biological effects, breeding processes, exploitation processes, planting processes, preliminary processing, and processing need to be digitized to build an electronic database for research, training, and international sharing.

- The combination of digital technology - biotechnology - traditional medicine will create a new ecosystem where medicinal herbs are transparently traced, quality is verified and value is multiplied in the global supply chain.

However, Associate Professor Dr. Pham Thanh Huyen said that there are still many difficulties in applying digital technology. The difficulty lies in the fact that a synchronous, accurate and comprehensive data system has not been built, and the infrastructure has not met the requirements. There is currently a lack of a clear legal corridor and investment resources for technology infrastructure. Therefore, it is necessary to soon complete mechanisms and institutions, and have policies to support units applying digital technology in the management, use, exploitation, conservation and development of medicinal herbs.

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To effectively apply digital technology in the medicinal materials chain, a synchronous legal corridor is needed between relevant ministries and sectors such as Health, Agriculture and Rural Development, Science and Technology, Information and Communications.

According to Associate Professor, Dr. Pham Thanh Huyen, having a clear institutional framework not only helps to effectively manage the medicinal value chain, but also creates momentum for the development of the pharmaceutical and medicinal economy, contributing to the conservation of natural resources, biodiversity, traditional knowledge and traditional Vietnamese medicine.

In the future, the Institute of Medicinal Materials is promoting digitalization and applying information technology to build a national electronic database on medicinal material resources and medicinal material development and the Vietnam Museum of Medicinal Materials. At the same time, developing a system of national medicinal plant conservation and development gardens representing ecological regions. At the same time, forming digital data and electronic traceability codes will be an important foundation for developing a modern and sustainable medicinal material industry, while preserving and promoting the identity of traditional Vietnamese medicine.

Some key directions:

- Building a national database on medicinal resources and medicinal development work: Forming a digital data center to connect with the management system from central to local levels for effective exploitation and use.

- Standardize information digitization processes, ensuring consistency, compatibility and connectivity between technology platforms.

- Complete national standards (TCVN) on traceability and quality management of medicinal herbs.

- Mechanism to encourage businesses and cooperatives to apply digital technology, especially in growing areas that meet GACP-WHO standards.

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Source: https://suckhoedoisong.vn/hoan-thien-co-che-chinh-sach-thuc-day-chuyen-doi-so-de-truy-xuat-nguon-goc-minh-bach-chuoi-duoc-lieu-169251108100931165.htm