Bulletin Spring‧Summer 1978

in relation to and in accordance with national health standards in the region. The liaison Centre will be operated by The Chinese University Research Unit on Chinese Medicinal Materials. Regional cooperative projects now undertaken include: (1) Medicinal plant screening programme (2) Phytochemistry and Biological Effect of Ginseng (3) Gardenia jasminoides (4) Murraya paniculata (5) Andrographs paniculata (6) Isoquinoline alkaloids (7) Zingiberaceae An Exhibition of Books on Medicinal Plants was held at the University Library from 20th to 22nd April, 1978 to synchronize with the Consultation Meeting on Medicinal Plant Research. Ancient Chinese publications related to the study of medicinal plants and a set of pictorial presentation on the development of Chinese medicine were displayed. Welcome Address by Dr. Choh-Ming Li It gives me great pleasure to welcome you all to the Opening Ceremony of the Consultation Meeting on Medicinal Plant Research in Southeast Asia. It is indeed an honour for The Chinese University to co- sponsor with UNESCO and an U.S. research institute this Consultation Meeting, which is the first of its kind to be held in Southeast Asia, and to play host to the overseas participants from our neighbouring countries. The use of medicinal plants has a very long his tory in China and other countries in Asia. It dates back to the time even before the coming of science to the Western world. The fact that herbal medicine is still being used by millions of people in the region is proof that some plants and herbs do have a medicinal value in the curing of diseases. Scientific research to evaluate how effective they are and to find out accu rately where their strength and weaknesses lie is there fore well justified. The fruits of research in this field would not only have important bearings for the health care of people in the region but, as is likely, would also contribute to the world-wide combat of diseases and to the development of medical science generally. Further, since the use of the medicinal plants has evolved over the millennia mainly through the cumu lative experience in different parts of the region, information on the subject has not been documented as scientifically as we would have preferred. A scien tific study of the subject is called for, in order that the invaluable knowledge on medicinal plants inherited from the past could be assessed, assimilated and disseminated to all those who have an interest in the field. It is only in the twentieth century that the call for scientific studies on medicinal plants has been answered when modern scientific methods of analy ses, experiment, research, documentation and infor mation retrieval are applied to the study of medicinal plants. Western scientists and international organi zations such as the World Health Organization have come to realize the potential of medicinal plants in providing keys to some of the problems which could not be solved by Western medicine. In response to this call, The Chinese University set up a Research Unit on Medicinal Materials under the University's Institute of Science and Technology in 1975 to under take research projects in this field. I am glad to say that the Unit has received great support from various international organizations. The co-sponsorship of the Consultation Meeting today by The Chinese Univer sity with the UNESCO Regional Network for Chem­ istry of Natural Products and the Institute for Ad vanced Research in Asian Science and Medicine of U.S.A. is yet another example of international co operative efforts in the scientific study of medicinal plants. We all hope that this Meeting will mark the beginning of a series of sustained efforts by countries in the region in the undertaking of cooperative research projects and free interchange of research results and experience so necessary for the consoli dation and the advancement of knowledge in herbal medicine. Last but not least, I wish to take this opportu nity to stress that the study of medicinal plants has a special meaning for The Chinese University. An ex pressed aim of The Chinese University is the integra tion of Eastern and Western cultures. We have held to this aim very closely. We see in the scientific study of medicinal plants an exemplification of the application of Western knowledge to the study of what is in the main a Chinese or Oriental cultural heritage and a significant step forward in the integration of Eastern and Western cultures. Now I have the honour to declare open the Consultation Meeting on Medicinal Plant Research in Southeast Asia. 9