The Global Medicine Project (GMP) at the University of California, Santa Barbara was begun in September of 1997. The motivation for the project is to help to alleviate unnecessary suffering for people whose own culture’s medicine is unable, by itself, to help them to overcome a serious illness. Medicine is a reflection of the culture in which it evolves, and is a response to the diseases common to the environment and lifestyle of that culture. As people began crossing national boundaries, they also took with them diseases from their culture that were unknown or uncommon to the people of the foreign culture and, therefore, “incurable” by the medicine of that culture. At a recent conference organized by the GMP, Dr. Wayne Jonas, former Director of the NIH National Center for Complementary & Alternative Medicine, stated that there are at least twelve complete medical systems in the world. All of these systems are effective in the treatment or prevention of certain illnesses, but none of them is effective for all illness. Each of these healing traditions can make a positive contribution to the creation of a global medicine for the global village in which we all now live. Such a global medicine will be more effective than any of the individual systems in the treatment and prevention of disease.
The UCSB Global Medicine Project is designed to help people make more effective health choices by providing accurate information about treatment, prevention, practitioners, and healing substances from a global perspective. We are interested in both the scientific and cultural aspects of the healing process. The project consists of six components, summarized as follows:
It is well known that plants have healing qualities and are used throughout the world for this purpose. Only 0.5% of the flowering and cone-bearing plants of the world have been scientifically examined for their chemical composition and medicinal potential. From this small number, 25% of all prescription medicines sold in the United States have been developed. Further scientific exploration of medicinal plants holds tremendous potential for finding and developing treatments that will alleviate suffering from health problems.
Careful cultivation and appropriate use of “medicinal plants” is the central focus of the healing practices in many of the world’s medical traditions. Therefore, an organic Medicinal Herb Garden (MHG) is in the process of being established at Fairview Gardens Farms, near UCSB, to address this central aspect of Global Medicine. Initially, the garden is being planted with Chinese medicinal herbs which will grow well in the Santa Barbara climate, and are known to be exceptionally effective in combating illness, such as Malaria. The variety of medicinal herbs will expand as this part of the educational program grows.
Eventually, the MHG will consist of a Greenhouse and Garden in which plants from around the world will be propagated and cultivated in order to then study their chemical properties and healing effectiveness. A database will be created on each medicinal plant’s history, purpose of use, current research, etc. Visitors touring the project will be able to walk through the medicinal herb garden, while being informed as to the importance of the plants in the cultures in which they are used. The facility will also provide a place for educational field trips, volunteer work and internships for students who are interested in Global Medicine.
It is also the purpose of the Medicinal Herb Garden to develop information about the optimum growing environment and proper harvesting techniques for specific medicinal plants. At the present time, pharmaceutical companies in the United States are importing the extracts and herbs grown in other countries, then placing their own labels on them for marketing. One company even purchased the rights to all medicinal plants in a certain country. It would be much more efficient and, perhaps, even cost-effective to grow the herbs in the U.S.
Because of the increasing popularity of herbal medicines, the medicinal plants themselves may soon become rare and endangered species. Those plants which are determined to be the most effective for treating certain diseases can be protected, preserved and grown in the United States, utilizing organic farming procedures which are so necessary in providing high-quality medicinal herbs. A serious problem in herbal medicine today is the growing realization that the herbs, themselves, may be contaminated by pesticides and/or heavy metals due to the lack of environmental safeguards. Medicinal plants that are organically grown and marketed in the United States will provide a measure of safety and quality that is required by herbal practitioners and consumers.
The Global Medicine Project is on the leading edge of a new wave of “Western” interest in non-western traditional medicine that has been used in those cultures, healing millions of people, for thousands of years. It is part of a new industry which is based on the fact that in the United States, for example, patients are self-prescribing herbal medication, acupuncture, homeopathy, yoga, etc. without consulting their conventional physicians. Many of these patients are getting well, despite objections that “those methods have no scientific basis”. In 2006 these same patients were willing to spend over $140 Billion on “alternative” or “complementary” treatments that were not reimbursed by their insurance companies. This is a very serious business indeed, one in which the long-established procedures and values of the American medical community are being challenged as never before. In turn, the medical traditions of cultures which are thousands of years old are being influenced by and challenged by the modern, technological medicine of the “West”. Thus, the way patients and physicians view health and healing is changing very rapidly.
One aspect of these changes is the growing scientific support for the premise that the process of healing is not simply involved with the physical body, but the influence of the mind. It is also an emotional and spiritual process, which is based on the culturally conditioned values and beliefs of the patient. In many cultures of the world, physicians intentionally focus on healing body, mind, and spirit. The so-called “placebo effect” is no longer discounted, but encouraged as an aid to healing by utilizing the power of the mind to increase the effectiveness of other medical treatments.
For these reasons the GMP is intercultural and cross-disciplinary in nature, focusing on both the scientific and cultural aspects of healing. It is concerned with the effects of the “inner environment” of mind or consciousness, as well as the effects of the “external environment”, on the process of healing. It is also part of a movement towards healthy living through the expanded choices offered by intercultural cooperation.
Ideally, it would be most productive to create a Center for Global Medicine in which scientists could carry out a sustained research program, focusing upon the development of new approaches and products for healing, based on examining ancient healing materials and techniques. Such a Center would foster collaborative research with other institutes and departments at UCSB, as well as in other parts of the United States and other countries. We have already received enthusiastic interest from individuals and institutes in China, who would like to cooperate in these research activities.
As this project grows and as the financial support for it increases, it is our intention to expand these important relationships so that the resulting structure, knowledge base, and information available to scientists and the public will reflect a global orientation. Bringing together ancient healing traditions and modern medical technology will provide an opportunity for all the world’s peoples to benefit from a truly Global Medicine.
For further information please contact:
Dan K. Smith, Ph.D., Director,
UCSB Global Medicine Project
Phone: (805) 893-2364
Email: dan.global@yahoo.com