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Vietnamese traditional medicine (VTM) is a dominant form of disease prevention and management for many citizens of Vietnam and for Vietnamese immigrants in other countries [1]. It is fully accepted in the Vietnamese culture, and plays an indispensable role in the national healthcare system of Vietnam. VTM coexists with Western (modern, conventional) medicine [2]. People in rural areas in Vietnam, who have limited access to the drugs that are designated by the WHO as essential medicines or for whom these medicines are too expensive, particularly make use of VTM. In the urban areas, Western medicine is much more common [3]. The Vietnamese government promotes and regulates the safe, effective and appropriate practice and use of VTM as an accessible and affordable means to provide 'healthcare for all', as encouraged by the WHO. The Vietnamese government also promotes the further development of VTM on a scientific basis and to integrate VTM with Western medicine. A national policy on VTM has been developed [4,301,302].
Although people in Vietnam believe in the treatment of diseases with VTM because of its safety and efficacy, VTM for the greater part lacks clinical evidence-based support in contrast to Western medicine. In the past decades, a reasonable amount of information about extracts and isolated compounds has been generated in preclinical pharmacological studies, but the number of clinical studies conducted with Vietnamese medicinal products is still very limited. The intrinsic toxic effects of medicinal plants and the possible occurrence of interactions between herbals and Western medicines are potential risks that should be faced in daily clinical pharmacy practice in Vietnam [5]. Other potential risks can be found in the suboptimal treatment of a patient with herbal medicines, contamination of the plant material, plant misidentification and (deliberate) adulterations or admixtures with synthetic drugs.
VTM is, in contrast to traditional Chinese medicine (TCM), relatively unknown outside its country of origin. In this review, the authors describe the current status of VTM in a historical perspective, its relationship to TCM and the national Vietnamese rules and regulations for VTM. The philosophical background of VTM, the Vietnamese market situation, quality assurance and pharmaceutical formulations are addressed. The scientific support for the traditional use of selected medicinal plants is elaborated. Preclinical and clinical studies as well as...