The World Health Organization is hosting a summit on traditional medicine next week in Gujarat, India, to examine the role of homeopathic healthcare in addressing global health challenges.
"Bringing traditional medicine into the mainstream of health care — appropriately, effectively, and above all, safely based on the latest scientific evidence — can help bridge access gaps for millions of people around the world," said Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, director-general of the WHO. "It would be an important step toward people-centered and holistic approaches to health and well-being."
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Traditional medicine, often called complementary medicine because of how it is practiced in tandem with standard Western medical treatments, covers a variety of healthcare treatments, ranging from herbal medicines to yoga and acupuncture treatments.
#TraditionalMedicine has been at the frontiers of medicine & science laying the foundation for conventional medical texts.#DYK: Nearly 40% of pharmaceutical products have a natural product base, incl.:
— World Health Organization (WHO) (@WHO) August 10, 2023
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In 2013, the WHO issued guidance for traditional medicine that emphasized quality assurance and safety protocols for traditional medicine practices and practitioners, as well as promoting universal health coverage that integrates traditional medicine into routine care.
This month's summit will update these guidelines as well as address the need to leverage new scientific technologies — such as artificial intelligence, functional MRIs, and genomics — to better maximize the potential of traditional medicine for improved health outcomes.
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“Advancing science on traditional medicine should be held to the same rigorous standards as in other fields of health," said WHO Director of the Department of Research for Health John Reeder. "This may require new thinking on the methodologies to address these more holistic, contextual approaches and provide evidence that is sufficiently conclusive and robust to lead to policy recommendations."
"Traditional medicine can play an important and catalytic role in achieving the goal of universal health coverage and meeting global health-related targets that were off-track even before the disruption caused by the COVID-19 pandemic," said Tedros.