Hamdard (Wakf) Laboratories
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| Type | Non-profit Waqf |
|---|---|
| Industry | Health Care, Food |
| Founded | 1906 |
| Headquarters | Ghaziabad |
| Key people | Hakeem Abdul Hameed |
| Products | Safi, Sharbat Rooh Afza, Cinkara, Roghan Badam Shirin, Pachnol |
| Website | www.hamdard.com |
Hamdard (Wakf) Laboratories, India is an Unani and Ayurvedic pharmaceutical company in India & Pakistan. It is the world's largest manufacturer of Unani medicines.[1] It was established in 1906 by Hakeem Hafiz Abdul Majeed in Delhi, and became a waqf (non-profitable trust) in 1948. Some of its most famous products include Safi, Sharbat Rooh Afza, Cinkara, Roghan Badam Shirin and Pachnol. It is associated with Hamdard Foundation, India, a charitable educational trust, through which it reinvests its profits into charitable activities.
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[edit] History
Hamdard Laboratories was founded in 1906 in Delhi by Hakeem Hafiz Abdul Majeed, a well-known Unani practitioner of his time. The name Hamdard means "empathizer" or "companion in suffering" in Urdu language. After his death, his son, Hakeem Abdul Hameed took over the administration of Hamdard Laboratories at the age of fourteen. Abdul Hameed became famous as "Hakeem Sahab" and the company grew both nationally and internationally under his leadership.
[edit] Charitable activities
Hamdard Foundation was created in 1964 to disburse the profits of the company to promote the interests of the society. All the profits of the company go to the foundation.[2] Both the company and the foundation have played a major role in reviving and popularizing Unani medicine in India. The company funds a significant part of the Jamia Hamdard University in Delhi. The Majeedia Hospital in the university complex is also funded by the company.
[edit] Research and development
Hamdard Laboratories has a twin manufacturing plant in Ghaziabad and one plant in Manesar Haryana. The company has introduced modern methods of standardization and quality control herbal preparations.
[edit] Controversies
In March 2005, Health Canada reported that Safi was:
"found to contain arsenic levels in excess of 40 times the maximum allowable concentration for drugs."[3]
This was the second article to claim Safi has elevated levels of heavy metals. In December 2004, the Journal of the American Medical Association reported a study conducted on Ayurvedic products sold in the Boston, MA area.[4] The study had found that of the 70 Ayurvedic medicines tested, 14 (20%) had enough heavy metals (Mercury, Lead and/or Arsenic) as to result in heavy metal intakes above published regulatory standards if taken as recommended by the manufacturers.
[edit] Further reading
- Unani medicine with reference to Hamdard of Pakistan and India, by Subhuti Dharmananda, Institute for Traditional Medicine and Preventive Health Care. 2004
[edit] See also
- Hamdard Laboratories, Pakistan
- Dawakhana Shifaul Amraz
[edit] References
- ^ Hamdard is reinventing the Hakim's legacy at domain-b.com
- ^ New-look Hamdard gets down to business in Indian Express, January 20, 2001
- ^ Advisory at Health Canada
- ^ Saper, Robert B.; Kales, SN; Paquin, J; Burns, MJ; Eisenberg, DM; Davis, RB; Phillips, RS (December 2004). "Heavy metal content of Ayurvedic herbal medicine products" (abstract page). Journal of American Medical Association 292 (23): 2868–2873. doi:10.1001/jama.292.23.2868. PMID 15598918. http://jama.ama-assn.org/cgi/content/abstract/292/23/2868?maxtoshow=&HITS=10&hits=10&RESULTFORMAT=&fulltext=ayurvedic&searchid=1&FIRSTINDEX=0&resourcetype=HWCIT.
