Antecedents and current situation of the regulation of herbal medicines in Cuba)

Very few plant species have been studied for medical purposes and we have data about their safety and efficacy only for an even smaller number of them. Most countries don’t have a legal framework for the control of herbal medicines, and they adopted different focuses in the authorization and commercialization of gerbil medicines. Cuba has a long tradition of use of medicinal plants since the Spanish colonisation and Traditional Medicine is both recognized and integrated in its National System of Health in the 1990. The State Centre for the Quality Control of Drugs (CECMED) as Regulatory Authority of Drugs of Cuba has the task of both and establishing the framework to assure the quality, the security and the efficacy of the herbal medicines by implementing the necessary policies. It also identifies future needs and anticipates solutions to address these regulatory issues.