The event drew representatives from the Health Ministry, sponsors as well as Vietnamese herbal medicine scientists and researchers.
Yen Bai boasts high potential in herbal medicine development as the province owns over 630 kinds of herbal plants in 99 communes, along with nearly 1,000 traditional remedies to cue 40 groups of diseases. However, some valuable remedies are facing risks of loss, while over exploitation is threatening the existence of many kinds of plants.
In order to preserve and develop the remedies, the project will encourage the engagement of social organisations in improving management over the herbal plant value chain. It will cover four communes of Dong Cuong, Mai Dong in Van Yen district, and Cam An and Bao Ai communes of Yen Binh district.
The project will be implemented in 45 months at a total cost of nearly 14 billion VND. It will give direct support to 300 households farming herbal plants in the four benefited localities.
Along with collecting data on herbal plant regions, the project will hold some training courses for locals, support them in farming techniques and promote the role of the herbal sector in socio-economic development of the localities.
At the same time, it will multiply good models in herbal plant farming and traditional remedies.