Recommendations from the workshop of the Association for the Advancement of Agriculture and Scientific Research in collaboration with the Agricultural Research Center titled “Medicinal Plants and Modern Technologies: A Renewed Hope in Facing Incurable Diseases” held on Monday, June 23, 2025, at the National Agricultural Library in Dokki.
Based on the ideas, visions, and proposals presented after the lectures and scientific research were displayed during the workshop of the Society for the Advancement of Agriculture and Scientific Research in collaboration with the Agricultural Research Center titled “Medicinal Plants and Modern Technologies: A Renewed Hope in Facing Chronic Diseases,” which was held on Monday, June 23, 2025, at the National Agricultural Library in Dokki, under the patronage of Prof. Dr. Adel Abdel Azim – Head of the Agricultural Research Center – and chaired by Prof. Dr. Mahmoud Muhammad Hassanein – President of the Society for the Advancement of Agriculture and Scientific Research and media spokesperson for the Plant Pathology Research Institute; the following recommendations were drawn up:
- Encouraging and promoting cooperation between universities, research centers, and the private sector to market research related to medicinal and aromatic plants, scientific investment, and its modern applications, as well as developing pharmaceutical products from herbs and establishing technological incubators specialized in the production of pharmaceutical preparations from plants.
- Increasing financial support for research centers and the Egyptian Drug Authority to conduct comprehensive studies on medicinal and aromatic plants and their therapeutic effects.
- Encouraging the use of plant extracts as a safe, environmentally friendly alternative to pesticides against plant diseases.
- Focusing on research and studies related to climate change and its impact on the productivity of medicinal and aromatic plants and the formation of active ingredients. 5- Enhancing human capacity building (researchers, agricultural engineers) through specialized training programs in plant chemistry and modern techniques for extracting and analyzing active compounds.
- Developing the agricultural and manufacturing infrastructure by allocating integrated agricultural areas for medicinal and aromatic plants (such as Sinai and the New Valley) and establishing specialized industrial complexes for extracting oils and active compounds.
- Issuing clear legislation that regulates the cultivation and manufacturing of medicinal and aromatic plants while facilitating the procedures for obtaining patents for discoveries and innovations in the production of natural products from medicinal and aromatic plants.
- Producing strains or varieties of medicinal and aromatic plants resistant to salinity and drought.
- Enhancing biological resistance by using plant extracts as immuno-stimulants to boost plant immunity against diseases.
- Promoting a healthy lifestyle and intensifying awareness about maintaining a healthy and safe diet to prevent chronic diseases, especially cancer, through various media outlets.
- Conducting regular checks for the early detection of cancer tumors to enable timely treatment.
- Promoting innovation in the field of drug discovery and using modern technologies to extract, characterize, analyze active materials, and assess their therapeutic effects to support clinical trials.
These recommendations, with their insights and proposals for the prevention and treatment of chronic diseases, especially cancer, represent the beginning of a collective scientific effort to find new hope for treating the disease of the age, ‘cancer’. Opening this file is a national duty against a danger that threatens the nation. It is time to stand united with the Egyptian state to provide a decent life for the Egyptian citizen, supporting Egypt’s Vision 2030 to achieve sustainable development goals. The Association’s management hopes that this file will not be closed until this danger has been eliminated. Furthermore, the management has a vision for the mechanism to implement and execute these recommendations on the ground, hoping that the relevant Egyptian authorities will give them due attention, as they are known to do, regarding the opinions of science and scientists in the development and progress of our beloved country. We ask the Almighty to crown our efforts with success for the benefit of our dear country, Egypt.