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Tuesday, 08 August 2023
MEDIA ADVISORY
Virtual media briefing on traditional medicine
Thursday, 10 August,13:30 to 14:30 CEST (Geneva time)
WHO has been working on traditional medicine since 1976, responding to the requests from countries for evidence and data to inform policies and practice, global standards and regulations to ensure safety, quality and equitable access.
WHO experts will brief the journalists on WHO’s traditional medicine work, including the most recent initiatives, such as the upcoming WHO Traditional Medicine Global Summit [https://www.who.int/initiatives/who-global-centre-for-traditional-medicine/traditional-medicine-global-summit] in India and an ongoing third global survey on traditional medicine.
Speakers:
Dr Shyama Kuruvilla, WHO lead for the Global Traditional Medicine Centre and the SummitDr Kim Sungchol, head of WHO Traditional, Complementary and Integrative Medicine UnitDr John Reeder, WHO Director of the Department of Research for Health and Director, Special Programme for Research and Training in Tropical DiseasesDr Rudi Eggers, WHO Director for Integrated Health Services
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Note to journalists
Please ensure you enter your name and media outlet (use name/outlet). When you sign in you will be automatically put in the meeting room. To ask a question, please click “raise hand” and this will enter you into the queue for questions (it can be found under the tab: participants). Please make sure you have a microphone connected or active on your computer.
WHO reserves the right to remove any participant whose behaviour causes any disruption.
Background information
About the Summit
The 2023 WHO Traditional Medicine Global Summit is organized by the WHO Global Traditional Medicine Centre [https://www.who.int/initiatives/who-global-centre-for-traditional-medicine], and is co-hosted by the Government of India, which holds the G20 presidency [https://www.g20.org/en/] in 2023 under the theme “One Earth, One Family, One Future”. This will be the first in a series of WHO global summits on traditional medicine, which will be held every other year in different WHO regions.
Why now
Today, traditional medicine has become a global phenomenon: demand is growing, with patients seeking greater agency and ownership of their health and well-being and seeking more compassionate and personalized health care. For millions, especially those living in remote and rural areas, traditional medicine continues to be the first port of call for health and well-being, offering care that is culturally acceptable, available and affordable.
Amid an expansion in the use of traditional medicine worldwide, safety, efficacy and quality control of traditional products and procedure-based therapies remain important priorities for health authorities and the public. Natural doesn’t always mean safe, and centuries of use are not a guarantee of efficacy; therefore, scientific method and process must be applied to provide the rigorous evidence required for the recommendation of traditional medicines in WHO guidelines. For some traditional interventions this presents methodological challenges and even required developing new methodologies to get the robust proof needed to advance traditional products and practices that are safe and effective.
A remarkable and rapid modernization of the ways traditional medicine is being studied can help realize the potential and promise of traditional medicine and traditional knowledge, for health and well-being. Taking clues from traditional uses, new clinically effective drugs can be identified through research methods such as ethnopharmacology and reverse pharmacology. The application of new technologies in health and medicine can open new frontiers of knowledge on traditional medicine. Artificial intelligence (AI) has emerged as a game-changer, revolutionizing the study and practice of traditional healing systems. AI’s advanced algorithms and machine learning capabilities can allow researchers to explore extensive traditional medical knowledge, map evidence and identify once elusive trends.
WHO work on traditional medicine
WHO traditional medicine programme started in 1976; today, through its Traditional, Complementary and Integrative medicine Unit, WHO is working with countries on developing standards and benchmarks [https://www.who.int/publications/i?healthtopics=7b989a66-ebf4-4d1a-9bde-59f12b3d3590] for the training and practice of different systems of traditional medicine, and for their evidence-based integration in the International Classification of diseases (ICD).
The 11th revision of ICD (ICD-11), which came into effect on 1 January 2022, includes a chapter on traditional medicine [https://www.who.int/standards/classifications/frequently-asked-questions/traditional-medicine] for dual and optional coding, which is based on traditional medicine originated in ancient Chinese Medicine (now commonly used in China, Japan, Republic of Korea and elsewhere around the world). WHO is developing the next module in traditional medicine chapter, which will include diagnostic terms of Ayurveda, Unani and Siddha systems of medicine.
In 2022, with the support of the Government of India, WHO set up the WHO Global Traditional Medicine Centre [https://www.who.int/initiatives/who-global-centre-for-traditional-medicine] in response to the increased global interest and demand for evidence-based traditional medicine. It is the first and only WHO global centre dedicated to traditional medicine. This knowledge hub focuses on partnership, evidence, data, biodiversity, and innovation to optimise the contribution of traditional medicine to global health, universal health coverage, and sustainable development, and is guided by respect for local heritages, resources, and rights.
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