The European Medicines Agency (EMA), the medicine body of the European Union (EU), said in a press release on Monday that it would systematically publish summaries of the recommendations of its Committee on Herbal Medicinal Products (HMPC) on the medicinal uses of herbal substances in easy to understand, public-friendly language.

Meanwhile, the summaries for six herbal substances that had their assessment finalized by the HMPC earlier this year have been released on the same day.

These summaries included information on the herbal substance assessed, the HMPC conclusions on its recommended uses, the data supporting the recommendations and the potential side effects associated with the use of the herbal substance, said the press release.

These summaries complemented information that is in the package leaflets of medicines containing the herbal substance, and were expected to help citizens make an informed choice when using these medicines for self-medication, added EMA.

Moreover, EMA introduced that it was also planning to progressively make these summaries available in all official languages of the EU.

Herbal medicines are used by millions of people across Europe. They are authorized or registered at national level in the EU.

These scientific opinions, also called European Union monographs, can also be used by EU member states when evaluating marketing authorization applications submitted by companies, said EMA.