The southern part of Asia, including Bangladesh, India, Nepal, Pakistan, Nepal, Sri Lanka, and other states, constitutes the World Health Organization’s (WHO’s) South-East Asia Region (SEAR). In this global region, traditional and herbal medicines are a normal part of health care, particularly in rural areas. The centuries-long, rich, and well-documented heritage of traditional medicine includes a vast reservoir of medicinal plants and huge repositories of knowledge. As of 2003, nearly 2,900 hospitals in India provided Ayurvedic medicines, and both conventional and traditional medicine treatments are offered at the National Health Centre of Bhutan. Five of the 11 SEAR member states have national research institutes for the study of traditional medicine. Many of the SEAR governments have recognized the use of traditional medicine and have established ...