1. Current status and future perspective of external herbal dispensaries preparing traditional herbal medicine in South Korea: the first National-Wide Survey results
- Author
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Soo-Hyun Sung, Kyeong Han Kim, Ji-Eun Han, Angela Dong-Min Sung, Byung-Cheul Shin, Jang-Kyung Park, In-Hyuk Ha, Jung-Youn Park, and Ji-Yeon Ryu
- Subjects
medicine.medical_specialty ,media_common.quotation_subject ,Herbal Medicine ,Personalized herbal medicine ,Survey result ,Pharmacy ,Health Services Accessibility ,03 medical and health sciences ,0302 clinical medicine ,Hygiene ,Completion rate ,South Korea ,Surveys and Questionnaires ,Republic of Korea ,medicine ,Humans ,Quality (business) ,Survey ,media_common ,business.industry ,Traditional Korean medicine ,Quality control ,External herbal dispensary ,Medicine, Korean Traditional ,030205 complementary & alternative medicine ,Dispensary ,Cross-Sectional Studies ,Complementary and alternative medicine ,Sterilization (medicine) ,030220 oncology & carcinogenesis ,Family medicine ,Drug and Narcotic Control ,business ,Research Article - Abstract
Background An external herbal dispensary (EHD) is a type of pharmacy that provides various types of personalized herbal medicines (PHMs) to other traditional Korean medicine (TKM) institutions. Such dispensaries were legalized by the Ministry of Health and Welfare (MoHW) in 2008 in South Korea. The purpose of this study is to understand the current status of the EHD facilities and their quality controls and compare them with the good manufacture practice (GMP) guidelines to contribute to the establishment of the safety and quality control criteria for PHMs. Methods We contacted 107 EHD representatives or people in charge of the preparation of PHMs (TKM pharmacists) and invited them to complete a survey questionnaire; of the total, 81 responded. The survey questionnaire was developed in 3 stages: drafting, revision by external experts, and final editing. It consisted of 20 questions covering 3 sections: basic characteristics of EHDs, facility, and quality control. The survey was hosted online from December 2017 to January 2018 as guided by the MoHW. Results The completion rate was 75.7% (n = 81). In terms of facilities, the five facilities (water supply, manufacture, pest control, hygiene management and warehousing) that corresponded to the legal requirements of EHD were mostly equipped, but the types of facilities and equipment differed. Two facilities (sterilization and cross-contamination that were not legally required for EHD were found to have mostly pharmacopuncture-EHD (P-EHD), but hardly any herbal medicine-EHD (H-EHD). In our findings regarding quality control of non-medicinal herbs, sensory evaluation that included checks for foreign bodies and deterioration were conducted. In terms of the quality control of herbal medicines, residual pesticides and heavy metals tests were performed and for pharmacopuncture, pH, salinity, sterility, and endotoxin tests along with gross examination were performed. In the end, we found that 6 of the 38 standard items as required by the Korea GMP were suitable. Conclusions In this study, detailed information for each existing EHD law was determined through a nationwide questionnaire. Moreover, the basis for its reflection in additional legal standards should be introduced so that safe herbal medicine can be prepared in EHDs. more...
- Published
- 2020