ERBIL, Kurdistan Region — Herb sales have surged in the Kurdistan Region since the start of the coronavirus pandemic, the non-governmental Kurdistan Herbalist Society (KHS) has told Rudaw, as consumers look to protect and treat themselves from the still little understood virus. "Since the outbreak of the coronavirus, demand for herbs has very much been on the rise - especially herbs which boost the immune system, whose sales have gone up by 200 percent," KHS media officer Jalal Karim told Rudaw on Thursday. An estimated one ton of herbs are now sold in the Kurdistan Region every day, KHS head Ismael Mushir told Rudaw. Herbs in high demand include clove, mint, thyme, eucalyptus, Karim said, as well as the costly echinacea "which sells for 50,000 dinars, because it is anti-bacterial and anti-viral." The Kurdistan Region has seen a total of 24,271 coronavirus cases since late February. Erbil and Sulaimani have been the worst impacted by the outbreak, with thousands of cases still active in each of the two provinces. To date, there are no vaccines or medicines that specifically target COVID-19. However, there are several ongoing clinical trials of both Western and traditional medicines, according to the World Health Organization (WHO). "Over the past two months, the sale of herbs has increased by 100 percent in Erbil," Mushir said. To satisfy demand, one million dollars’ worth of herbs are imported into the Kurdistan Region from Turkey, Egypt, Iran, China, India, Sudan, the Czech Republic, Poland, Britain, and Germany every year, according to KHS data. Karim, himself a herb seller, said that “sixty percent” of his products are grown in the Kurdistan Region. Part of what has spurred sales of herbal remedies is "advertisements on social media, comments from nutrition specialists, local and international pages and accounts," Karim said. But Dr. Saman Abdulrahman, an assistant professor at Sulaimani University’s College of Agriculture, said that some of this advertising has preyed on consumers fearful of an illness of which we still know so little. "Coronavirus is new, and no country has yet discovered a vaccine for it. So to name herbal remedies as medication to treat coronavirus is nothing short of pickpocketry and deception,” Abdulrahman said. “However, some herbs can be used to boost the immune system.” Abdulrahman, who holds a PhD on the classification of herbs in Iraq and the Kurdistan Region, said that many shop owners lack the necessary knowledge to sell herbal remedies. "Ninety five percent of the herbal therapy centers have no expertise about the benefits of herbs. They don’t even know about the herbs. They’ll sell them immorally. For example, they’ll say that mint fights coronavirus, but that is not in fact the case. Mint is anti-bacterial, not anti-viral." The Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) health ministry does not have any data on the number of premises selling herbal remedies in the Kurdistan Region. However, the herbalist society said that the Kurdistan Region is home to more than 500 centers, selling over 100 kinds of herbs. As the fledgling herbalist industry grew, the health ministry decided in 2018 to regulate herbal remedy centers. According to ministry regulations, only graduates from medical, scientific and agricultural colleges are allowed to work as herbalists, health ministry advisor Dr. Aram Rostam told Rudaw. "The sale of any kind of herb as a cure for coronavirus has no scientific backing," Rostam said. "This kind of trade is trickery.” Karim agreed that herbal remedies must not be sold as a magic cure for the virus. "We cannot say that these herbs should be used to treat coronavirus, because they are not medication," the herbalist said. "What we can say is that they can supplement diet and play some role in easing the symptoms of coronavirus." Translation by Zhelwan Z. Wali
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