A worker at the Kay Thi Pan traditional pharmaceutical factory in the South Dagon Industrial Zone prepares capsules for sale. Pic Aung Tun WIn

TRADITIONAL medicines continue to battle with western pharmaceuticals for control of Myanmar’s medicinal marketplace, say several traditional medicine producers.

These producers say the use of new and sophisticated packaging methods is helping them to at least hold their place in the market.

Their chief advantage over western medicines is obvious – they are cheaper by far.

Founder of the famous Kay Thi Pan medicine company, U Hla Myint, says there are several reasons why people are attracted to traditional medicines, but price is pivotal.

“They are popular with buyers mostly because they are cheaper. But people also like that traditional medicines are made using natural herbs and do not induce any side effects,” he says.

Daw Khin May Linn, director of Awbar traditional pharmaceutical company agrees.

“Prices for Western pharmaceuticals increase all the time and people from rural areas are shifting back to cheaper traditional medicines instead,” she says.

Myanmar’s traditional medicine industry is also adapting to the times by using modern packaging to woo buyers. Until recently, traditional medicines were packaged and sold as powders in small bottles. However, producers have begun producing western style tablets and capsules to increase their market share.

However, U Hla Myint warns that the industry faces some challenges in the future.

“Just as some counterfeit medicines appear on the market disguised as internationally recognised products like aspirin, the same thing happens with traditional medicines. Whenever this occurs the Department of Indigenous Medicine takes whatever action is available against these producers to get these items off the shelf.”

Kay Thi Pan medicines are famous in Myanmar and are exported to Thailand, India, China, Bangladesh, Malaysia, Singapore and the United Kingdom.

Another well known brand is Htet Linn. Company founder U Khin Maung Tun says there are more important criteria for traditional medicines to fulfil than simple packaging.

He says they need to work to be competitive.
“If producers can prove their medicines are really effective to consumers, they will be successful in the market,” he says, adding that in his opinion traditional medicines had increased in popularity over the past 10 years.

But he did concede that better packaging methods are also helping to lure buyers.

“Traditional medicines normally have an unpleasant smell and bad taste, so manufacturers use new packaging techniques to cover up these unpleasant features by making the product into a tablet or capsule.”

But Awbar’s Daw Khin May Linn says the new methods had their failings too.
“When we make medicated powder into tablets, we need to use a substance to glue it all together. I believe those glues reduce the effectiveness of the medicine.”

Many traditional Myanmar medicines have also found popularity in neighbouring countries. Individual merchants are exporting these indigenous medicines to Yunnan province in China, Manipur and Assam in India and many districts of Thailand bordering Myanmar.

To compensate for this and appeal to as many buyers as possible, local producers label their goods in Hindi, Mandarin, Urdu, Thai and English.