Include herbal and similar medicines
Any database should include herbal medicines and similar alternative/complementary products such as glucosamine. It should also provide details of the evidence for their effectiveness (or otherwise) so that people know if they're buying something that has a chance of working for them.
Why the contribution is important
When doctors prescribe conventional medicines, they have reference books that spell out the possible side-effects and interactions, but no authoritative, comprehensive and reliable source of information about herbal medicines exists in the UK. Herbal medicines are like all medicines in that if they have the power to do good they may also do harm, particularly if they're taken with conventional medicines. St John's wort can reduce the effect of drugs used for heart conditions or high blood pressure. Gingko biloba can increase the risk of bleeding in people taking warfarin or aspirin; thousands of people buy it in the belief that it will help their memory, but recent evidence suggests that it has no effect, so there is risk but no benefit. Many herbal medicines still don't provide patient information leaflets (though they will have to by 2012), but even when they do, you've already bought the product before you can find out that it could harm you. Over a third of people in the UK use herbal medicines in the belief that 'natural = safe' but this isn't necessarily so.