World Health Organization recognises benefits of traditional medicine

October 5, 2023

The United Nation’s World Health Organization (WHO) has called on countries to integrate traditional and complementary medicine into their national health systems.

Coinciding with the staging of the WHO Traditional Medicine Summit in the Indian state of Gujarat in August, the announcement was made as construction commenced on the new US$250 million WHO Global Centre for Traditional Medicine in the Gujarat city of Jamnagar.

Attended by delegates from 88 countries, including indigenous peoples from around the world, Summit showcased the role of traditional, complementary and integrative medicine (TCIM) in driving progress in global health and sustainable development as well as exploring ways to scale scientific advances and mobilise political commitment and evidence-based action.

The Summit showcased TCIM’s role in driving progress in global health and sustainable development as well as exploring ways to scale scientific advances and mobilise political commitment and evidence-based action.

Speaking about the event, WHO Director General, Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus advised “traditional medicine can play a catalytic role in achieving universal health coverage.

“Bringing TCIM into the mainstream of healthcare, appropriately, effectively and above all, safely - based on the latest scientific evidence - can help bridge health access gaps for millions of people.”

Dr Ghebreyesus went on to share his belief that traditional medicine can play an important role in meeting global health targets that were off-track, even before the disruption caused by the pandemic.

Indigenous peoples were also present - including attendees from Australia, Bolivia, Brazil, Canada, Guatemala and New Zealand - for whom TCIM plays a fundamental role, not only in healthcare, but also in their culture and in sustaining livelihoods.

Future Action
Early findings were also shared from the new WHO Global Survey on Traditional Medicine 2023 (third edition), which documents the status of TCIM globally.

The full survey will be released later this year and will inform the development of WHO’s new Traditional Medicine Strategy 2025-2034.

The summit also highlighted the important role that artificial intelligence can play in mining complex data available on TCIM and identifying practices that show promise for further scientific evaluation.

WHO said the event closed with a “strong commitment from partners and stakeholders to harness the potential of evidence-based TCIM”.

The aim is to deploy TCIM to improve progress towards universal health coverage and meet the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals by 2030, for the wellbeing of people and planet.

WHO Global Centre for Traditional Medicine
The under construction WHO Global Centre for Traditional Medicine, which soft launched in 2022, aims to be an ‘accessible, eco-friendly and interactive facility’ showcasing global traditions and modern scientific advances in traditional medicine.

As lead investor, the Indian Government has committed US$250 million to support the centre’s establishment, infrastructure and operations.

Criticism
The WHO’s move to recognise traditional medicine has generated criticism.

On social media, as of 17th August a post - viewed by 3.5 million had over 2,000 quotes - with many calling out the WHO for promoting “pseudoscience” and in particular, taking issue with the promotion of homeopathy.

“Seriously Seriously, @WHO? Homeopathy is *not* #TraditionalMedicine! It’s quackery that was invented by a German just ~225 years ago," wrote David Gorksi, a surgical oncologist who edits the website Science-based Medicine.

The WHO Traditional Medicine Summit was held parallel to the ongoing G20 health ministers' meeting.

Image credit: Shutterstock.

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