Although medicinal plants have been used for millenia, plant remedies and traditional medicines have only recently been subject to thorough scientific study. The confirmed resolution of the World Health Organization to ensure, by the year 2000, the attainment of a level of health that will permit people everywhere to lead a socially and economically productive life has led to increasing recognition of the role of traditional medicine in reaching that goal. This special volume of Economic and Medicinal Plant Research features papers given at a recent meeting and focuses on two questions in particular--how and to what extent is traditional medicine practiced in various countries, and which specific plants show real efficacy and potential for development and wider use? These discussions will do much to promote this already growing field of interest and to catalyse and direct future research into medicinal plant products.