An-Najah Staff

A survey of the plant derived pharmaceuticals in the Palestinian drug market was carried out. The Palestinian Pharmaceutical Index (PPI) which contains a list of the imported and locally produced pharmaceuticals was manually reviewed. The search in the PPI for plant-derived pharmaceuticals shows that laxatives drug class has the highest percentage (60%) followed by bronchial spasm relaxants (56%) and drugs acting on uterus (50%). This survey shows the distribution of plant derived pharmaceuticals among the different pharmacological drug classes. It also shows that plant derived pharmaceuticals still have a reasonable share of the drug market as investigated in Palestine. Medical personnel may need further information on herbal pharmacology.