The Rosy Periwinkle

• Background information

  Small evergreen shrub.

  Native to Madagascar; now common in many tropical and sub-tropical regions.

  Requires warm tropical climate without frost.

  Favours slightly moisture retraining, acidic soil.
• Traditional use

  Treated wasp stings in India.

  Diabetes in China and the Philippines.
• Scientific value

  Analysed in the late 1960s.

  Contains vinblastine is used to treat Hodgkin’s lymphoma.

  Contains vincristine used in childhood chemotherapy for leukaemia; has increased survival reates from 10% in 1970 to 90% today.
• Biopiracy

  Global sales of vincrastine and vinblastine are worth over 300 million USD; profit goes to Eli Lilly, a US pharmaceutical giant.

  Few of these profits are channelled back to Madagascar and its indigenous people, which hinders economic growth.