WHO Begins Development of New Traditional Medicine Strategy 

Ndubuisi Francis in Abuja 

The World Health Organisation ((WHO) has commenced the development of the new traditional medicine strategy (2025-2034) as requested by its member states at the World Health Assembly in May 2023.

This came to the fore at a meeting between the WHO Director-General, Dr. 

Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, some senior officials of the global body and representatives of civil society organisations (CSOs).

Discussions centred around priorities on traditional, complementary and integrative healthcare in the lead up to the WHO Traditional Medicine Global Summit between August 17 and 18, 2023 in Gandhinagar, Gujarat, India.   

The virtual meeting was coordinated by the People’s Declaration for Traditional, Complementary and Integrative Healthcare, a worldwide civil society coalition of users and practitioners of traditional, complementary and integrative healthcare.  

Representatives of more than 300 civil society organisations (CSOs) and over 600 people were in attendance, bringing the full force of the knowledge and expertise on traditional, complementary and integrative health (TCIH) to the forefront.

In his opening remarks, Ghebreyesus said: “Traditional, complementary and integrative health is rooted in the knowledge and resources of communities.  For millions of people around the world, it is their first stop for health and well-being, and an integral part of their health system. 

 “It is for precisely these reasons that dialogues with civil society organizations are so important to WHO, as we shape our guidance and policy recommendations for countries.”

WHO has started the development of the new traditional medicine strategy 2025-2034 as requested by its member states at the World Health Assembly in May 2023, during which they also extended WHO traditional medicine strategy: 2014-2023 for another two years, until 2025.  

Suggestions and proposals from the civil society will contribute to this important task, and will also inform the work of the WHO Global Centre for Traditional Medicine to harness the potential of traditional medicine from across the world to improve the health of people and the planet. 

The dialogue will further contribute to WHO’s work on traditional, complementary and integrative medicine (TCIM), which seeks to respond to requests from countries for evidence and data to inform policies and practice, global standards and regulation to ensure safety, quality, equitable access and use, and support for scientific, innovation and technological advances in traditional medicine practices.

In the dialogue, CSOs stressed that traditional and complementary systems offer a holistic understanding of the human being and its interconnectedness with the world, and as such, can contribute to a positive vision of health that integrates the physical, the mental, the spiritual and a social well-being.  

Recalling the Declaration of Astana and its specific references to the role of traditional knowledge in strengthening primary health care and improving health outcomes, CSOs stressed that the key question was how to integrate and harness TCIH in a way that makes health services more health promoting and more in balance with the health of our planet.

The  CSOs pointed to insufficient integration of TCIH into policy, especially in providing universal health coverage, citing the example of millions of TCIH practitioners and providers in the world, who often make health care accessible and affordable to many people.

They stressed that although there is an established evidence base for TCIH, integration into health systems has not yet happened, adding that lack of evidence is often cited as a barrier.  

The CSOs backed a dramatic increase in research activity, commensurate with TCIH use, and called for a more complex research agenda, to include products, practices and practitioners. 

The CSO representatives also spoke about the importance of training and continuous professional development of TCIH practitioners, and about specific registration, pathway and monitoring of TCIH products to ensure safely effectiveness and accessibility for all.