About the BHMA

The British Herbal Medicine Association (BHMA) was founded in 1964 to advance the science and practice of herbal medicine in the United Kingdom and to ensure its continued statutory recognition at a time when all medicines were becoming subject to greater regulatory control. It is worth noting that the BHMA was established on the principle that herbal remedies are medicines under UK law, and should be produced to medicine requirements for quality, safety and efficacy, rather than to lesser requirements for "dietary supplements" or healthfoods.

Following the Medicines Act 1968 the legislative requirements for herbal medicines increased substantially. During the 1980s, as part of the EC Review of Medicines, all UK medicine manufacturers were required to complete a thorough technical appraisal of their products and to provide evidence on quality, safety and efficacy to the Medicines Control Agency on behalf of the Department of Health. Around 600 herbal products emerged from this rigorous review with full medicine product licences and with their claims for efficacy accepted by the government. (They can be identified on the product pack by a "PL" number). In addition there are a larger number of herb products that are supplied as herbal medicines exempt from licensing under the terms of the Medicines Act, provided that they contain herbs only, have no brand names and that no medicinal claims are made for the products. In addition to many herbal products available directly to the public, herbal practitioners also supply their medicines under these terms.

In 1998 the BHMA developed a Code of Practice for the production of herbal medicines exempt from licensing that all its members have signed up to. In effect this means that BHMA members are committed to producing all their herbal medicines to the same pharmaceutical standards of quality that are required for licensed medicines. In the absence of legally binding quality standards for the production of herbal medicines exempt from licensing, the BHMA Code is the main assurance to the public that herbal products can be safe and efficacious. The Medicines Control Agency has welcomed the BHMA Code as an important contribution to its work in regulating herbal medicines.

From its foundation the BHMA has provided important scientific information to health professions, the herbal industry and to the public. Notably from the 1970's it has produced the British Herbal Pharmacopoeia (latest edition 1996), recognised in the UK and in many countries around the world as the leading reference on the scientific definition of herbal medicines to complement official drug pharmacopoeias. To complement the BHP the BHMA has also published the British Herbal Compendium of therapeutic information on plants listed in the pharmacopoeia, and has substantial new publications in progress.

The BHMA is the UK representative of (and provides the Secretariat for) the European Scientific Cooperative on Phytotherapy (ESCOP) the body that has become recognised by the European Medicines Agency as providing the leading scientific resources on the therapeutic use of herbal medicinal products in the European Union. Harmonised European medicine dossiers based on submissions by ESCOP will soon be published by the European Medicines Agency.

Members of the BHMA include companies involved in the manufacture or supply of herbal medicines, herbal practitioners, academics, pharmacists, students of phytotherapy and others.  The BHMA has supported these members with advice and comments on legislation and labelling from the beginning. However the BHMA is not able to provide individual clinical advice to members of the public and refers enquiries to members of the main professional associations of herbal practitioners. In the UK tradition the leading professional groups, now with University degree-level education, are the College of Practitioners of Phytotherapy (CPP) and the National Institute of Medical Herbalists (NIMH). Practitioner members of these bodies can be identified, in Yellow Pages and other listings of herbal practitioners, by the letters MCPP, FCPP, MNIMH or FNIMH after their names.


Objectives of the Association


The BHMA Scientific Committee

Since its formation in 1965 the BHMA Scientific Committee has played an important role in the Association's activities. With many distinguished contributors, the Committee has a long record of achievement in developing monographs on plant drugs and in providing technical information to BHMA members and public bodies.

From the first monographs published in 1971 the Pharmacopoeia was gradually extended and updated culminating, after 16 years of dedicated study and practical work, in a unified edition, the British Herbal Pharmacopoeia 1983, with specifications and therapeutic information on 232 plant drugs.

In recent years the Committee has pursued a long term programme towards full revision of the BHP, as a source of specifications, particularly for plant drugs not featured in the BP, and also the preparation of a new companion publication, British Herbal Compendium, combining therapeutics with much needed data on other aspects of herbal medicines. The outcome is two separate but closely related books for the 1990's.  Click here to see more detail about BHMA publications.

To support its work on publications the committee has compiled an extensive database of scientific papers and endeavours to keep up-to-date with scientific and regulatory progress on plant drugs of interest. Contact is maintained with the Medicines Control Agency and the BP commission and, when appropriate, the Committee provides information and comment on regulatory or pharmacopoeial matters.

Committee members also represent the BHMA as delegates to the Scientific Committee of ESCOP and provide substantial assistance to its work on proposals for European monographs on the medicinal uses of plant drugs. Involvement in ESCOP meetings and symposia ensures close liaison with representatives of academia and industry from many European countries.