New centre in Gujarat will maximise role of traditional medicine in global healthcare, says WHO regional director

Nearly 80 percent of people across the world, in 170 of 194 WHO member-countries, use traditional medicines such as herbal medicines, yoga, ayurvedic medicine, acupuncture and acupressure, and many other indigenous therapies.

For many people, traditional medicines are the first port of call when treating diseases.

Many of their governments have requested WHO’s support in creating a body of reliable evidence and data on traditional medicine practices and products.

There is a need to develop a cohesive and integrative approach to healthcare that allows governments, health care practitioners and, most importantly, those who use healthcare services, to access traditional medicine services in a safe, respectful, cost-efficient and effective manner and a mechanism to preserve and protect traditional medical knowledge, to guarantee and improve quality and safety of traditional medicine and practices which is what the GCTM will contribute towards.

Consumer expectations of healthcare are rising while costs are soaring. Therefore, integrating traditional medicine into the public healthcare delivery system becomes an obvious and pressing need.

The biggest challenges facing the integration of traditional medicines into mainstream healthcare delivery system is ensuring its safety, efficacy and standardizing and developing traditional medicines as evidence-based medicine.  For this, we need evidence and data to inform on policies and standards, regulatory frameworks to ensure safe, cost-effective, and equitable use.

GCTM, with its global reach will be a game-changer by focusing on four strategic areas of work: 1) evidence and learning; 2) data and analytics; 3) sustainability and equity; and 4) innovation and technology. It will help harness the power of traditional medicine to advance the SDG 3 (Sustainable Development Goal 3) target of ensuring health and promoting wellbeing for all at all ages.

What other areas will the GCTM contribute to? 

Traditional medicine is a part of the growing trillion-dollar global health, wellness, beauty, and pharmaceutical industries.

Many countries already have well-established systems of traditional medicine. Supporting member-states to develop safe, effective and organized traditional medicine, will not only enable the medical system to tap into and fully realise the potential of traditional medicines, but also attract people from other countries who opt for specialized care and traditional medicine.

Traditional medicines also represents a vibrant and expanding part of health care. There has been a rapid modernization of the ways traditional medicine is being studied. Artificial intelligence is now used to map evidence and trends in traditional medicine and to screen natural products for pharmacokinetic properties. This has additionally opened up new and exciting possibilities for learning, research, application and delivery of traditional medicines and therapies.

Traditional medicine is firmly rooted in nature with over 40% of the pharmaceuticals tracing their origins to traditional medicine. One of the key areas of focus for the GCTM is equity and sustainability and the centre will, with developed standard common tools, assist in preserving and protecting the sources of traditional knowledge and nature--the source of traditional medicines -- with respect for local heritages, resources and rights as its guiding principle.

Traditional medicine can also help address the growing burden of non-communicable diseases and mental illnesses through its integrated and complementary use with the allopathic system.

How has traditional medicine evolved in India and the South-East Asian region? 

Traditional medicines and practices have been in use since ancient times in India and the South-East Asina Region and are strongly embedded in the culture and daily lives.

Today, of the 11 member- countries in the Region, 10 have a national policy, programme, office and expert committee for traditional medicine. Countries in the region have been demonstrating a strong commitment to policy, law, regulation and national infrastructure for traditional medicine services, with establishment of formal training and education systems, and integration of traditional medicine into their public healthcare delivery system as appropriate.

In India, the prominent systems of traditional medicine include ayurveda, yoga and naturopathy, unani, siddha, and homeopathy,  which have been grouped together under AYUSH.

India has a long history of delivering pluralistic healthcare, combining allopathic and traditional medicines, including through medical education.  India has been steadily moving in the direction of integrating traditional medicine and care with mainstream healthcare systems.

AYUSH services are also provided free to citizens at all levels of public health facilities. Since 2016, the cost of traditional medicines and care is reimbursed by both public and private insurance (firms). Yoga has been introduced in schools and workplaces for all-round wellness and health.

Traditional medicine has been on WHO’s agenda for many years. While the first of many resolutions was adopted by the World Health Assembly in 1969,in the WHO South-East Asia Region, as early as in 1976, member-countries sought WHO leadership in the region for collaboration among member- countries on traditional medicines.  In 2013, member- countries signed the Delhi Declaration to cooperate, collaborate and provide mutual support to each other in all fields of traditional medicine.  Traditional medicines have continued to receive high-level commitment since then.

WHO has continued to provide support and collaborated with member-states to strengthen pharmacovigilance, research capacity, integration, and system performance monitoring with the development of a set of standardized core and reference indicators that policymakers have used to develop or revise national policies and to review programmes.

What are the expectations from the centre and how will it be useful? 

The new centre will help to leverage the power of science and technologies to strengthen the evidence base for traditional medicine. It will augment WHO’s capacities by focusing on evidence and learning, data and analysis, sustainability and equity, and innovation and technology to maximize the role of traditional medicine in global health and sustainable development.

Despite its widespread use and ancient wisdom, the healthcare system has also not been able to fully integrate traditional medicine with healthcare system, preventing us from fully realizing the potential of traditional medicine. The GCTM will focus on catalysing this traditional wisdom and modern science for the health and wellbeing of the people and the planet.