I thank the Leas-Cheann Comhairle for allowing me to raise this important matter and ask him to facilitate Deputy Gormley after I conclude as he is interested in contributing to this debate. I express my concern at a recent statutory instrument signed by the Minister for Health and Children which confines the sale of the herb St. John's Wort to prescription use from 1 January. St. John's Wort is named after St. John the Baptist and has been in common use since before his time to help with mood swings and other minor conditions. From 1 January the individuals concerned will have to obtain a prescription to get the product. It is most likely, since few doctors are familiar with the herb, that they will be given prescriptions for much stronger drugs with known side effects and addictive patterns.
St. John's Wort now joins Gingko Biloba as a herb restricted to prescription in Ireland but freely available in every other country in the European Union. Gingko Biloba is another popular herb in Europe which is used to improve circulation. This comes on top of the publication by the Irish Medicines Board last June of a highly controversial document, Guide to the Definition of a Medicinal Product, which implies that vitamins, minerals and natural herbs will be classed as medicines. The guidelines are largely based on EU Directive 65/65 EEC which, as its name implies, was written in 1965, a time when we were all basking in the comfort and safety of miracle antibiotics and drugs which promised a healthy future for all. Times have changed since then and there is a massive interest in complementary medicines such as homeopathy, nutritional supplements and herbalism. There are health food shops in almost every medium sized town in Ireland – there are two in my maternal town of Bantry.
The changing times have been recognised by EU regulators and at least 13 of the 15 member states are in breach of several aspects of EU Directive 65/65 EEC. At the 48th meeting of the pharmaceutical committee at DG III in Brussels last month it was unanimously agreed that there was a need to study the possibility of introducing a traditional medicines directive. Less than one week after Ireland voted in favour of considering such a directive the Minister for Health and Children made a pre-emptive strike and signed away our rights to have free access to a popular herb. While the European Union accepts that there needs to be a regulatory framework in which to deal with vitamins, minerals, herbs etc., the IMB has suddenly decided to overzealously address itself to the task of regulating these products within a framework which is entirely inappropriate.
The product Bioforce Echinaforce is known to help the immune system. Other products such as propolis, produced in the beehive, and garlic often prove effective alternatives to antibiotics. The medical profession recognises that such alternatives are urgently needed if we are to limit the current gross overprescribing of antibiotics. Sales of Bioforce products alone amount to about £1.5 million per annum at retail prices.
The Minister referred to the herb as being an MAO inihibitor. There is no need to explain what this is, but current literature indicates that this is not the manner in which the herb works and this information is grossly out of date. Food supplements, including vitamins and minerals and a wide range of herbal products, have been available on free sale in Ireland for well over 20 years. Traditional herbal remedies, including St. John's Wort, have also been available for this period though their use in Ireland dates back to the beginning of our civilisation. Attempts to regulate these products by means of conventional medicinal licensing have proved totally unworkable in Ireland and throughout the rest of Europe. This is because medicinal licensing procedures were designed to assess powerful pharmaceutical drugs and are inappropriate for food supplements and gentle acting herbal products.
Hundreds of thousands of consumers in Ireland and throughout the rest of Europe and the world are demanding their rights to choose safe and effective natural health products. Any restriction of this freedom to choose legitimate safe products is an infringement of the democratic rights of the consumer. It is also contrary to the EU Single Market which attempts to dismantle barriers to trade because they will continue to be available in other member states.
I call on the Minister for Health and Children to immediately withdraw St. John's Wort and gingko biloba from the prescription list and to require the Irish Medicines Board and the Department to consult in future with industry and independent professional experts on any further regulation.