Answer:
Plants are extremely important in the lives of people throughout the world. People depend upon plants to satisfy such basic human needs as food, clothing, shelter, and health care. These needs are growing rapidly because of a growing world population, increasing incomes, and urbanization .
Plants provide food directly, of course, and also feed livestock that is then consumed itself. In addition, plants provide the raw materials for many types of pharmaceuticals, as well as tobacco, coffee, alcohol, and other drugs. The fiber industry depends heavily on the products of cotton, and the lumber products industry relies on wood from a wide variety of trees (wood fuel is used primarily in rural areas). Approximately 2.5 billion people in the world still rely on subsistence farming to satisfy their basic needs, while the rest are tied into increasingly complex production and distribution systems to provide food, fiber, fuel, and other plant-derived commodities .
Medicinal plants have been used in healthcare since time immemorial. Studies have been carried out globally to verify their efficacy and some of the findings have led to the production of plant-based medicines. The global market value of medicinal plant products exceeds $100 billion per annum. This paper discusses the role, contributions and usefulness of medicinal plants in tackling the diseases of public health importance, with particular emphasis on the current strategic approaches to disease prevention. A comparison is drawn between the ‘whole population’ and ‘high-risk’ strategies. The usefulness of the common-factor approach as a method of engaging other health promoters in propagating the ideals of medicinal plants is highlighted.
