Leon Barretto

Unani system of medicine is an alternative medicine that originated in ancient Greece but is now practiced primarily in India. Involving the use of herbal remedies, dietary practices, and alternative therapies, Unani medicine addresses the prevention and treatment of disease. Greek medicine, roughly speaking, covers the millennium from 500 BC to 500 AD.

Unani System of medicine not only provides effective treatments for diseases, but its holistic approaches include unique principles of diet, life style and
particularly therapeutics, to balance and enrich all aspects of physiology and psychology

According to WHO, “Pharmacovigilance activities are done to monitor detection, assessment, understanding and prevention of any obnoxious adverse reactions to drugs at therapeutic concentration that is used or is intended to be used to modify or explore physiological system or pathological states for the benefit of recipient.” These drugs may be any substance or product including herbs, minerals, etc. for animals and human beings and can even be that prescribed by practitioners of Unani or ayurvedic system of medicine. Pharmacovigilance program for these traditional drugs is in its infancy, hence various challenges are confronted in monitoring the safety of these Drugs

Unani drugs of every origin (plant, animal and mineral) are categorized in four degrees on the basis of their temperament, potentiality (potency) and power of effectiveness (efficacy), which in its entirety curb adverse drug reactions. Higher the degree, higher the adverse effects. A drug used in Unani system has a documented temperament (hot, dry and moist). The temperament of the drug is measured on a scale of one to three degrees. A drug may have temperament (Har as Hot and Cold, Hot and Dry, Hot and Moist; Barid as Cold and Hot, Cold and Dry, Cold and Moist; Yabis as Dry and Hot, Dry and Cold, Dry and Moist). This classification of herbs seems to be based on the clinical observations of the yesteryear physicians of Unani system.