The first WHO Global Summit on Traditional Medicine will take place on 17-18 August 2023 in Gandhinagar, Gujarat, India. It will be held alongside the G20 health ministerial meeting, to mobilize political commitment and evidence-based action for traditional medicine, which is a first port of call for millions of people around the world to respond to their health and well-being needs.
The Global Summit will be co-hosted by WHO and the Government of India, which holds the presidency of the G20 in 2023. It will be a platform for all stakeholders, including traditional medicine professionals, users and communities, national policy makers, international organizations, academics, the private sector and civil society organizations, to share best practices and groundbreaking evidence, data and innovations on the contribution of traditional medicine to health and sustainable development.
For centuries, traditional and complementary medicine has been an essential resource for household and community health. He stood at the frontiers of medicine and science, laying the foundations of conventional medical texts. Today, around 40% of pharmaceutical products are based on natural products, and blockbuster drugs come from traditional medicine, including aspirin, artemisinin and treatments for childhood cancer. New research, particularly on genomics and artificial intelligence, is emerging in this area, and the medicinal plants, natural products, health, wellness and associated travel industries are growing. Currently, 170 Member States have reported to WHO on the use of traditional medicine and requested evidence and data to inform policies, standards and regulations for its safe, cost-effective and equitable use.
In response to this increased global interest and demand, WHO, with support from the Government of India, in March 2022 established the WHO Global Center for Traditional Medicine as a knowledge center with a mission to catalyze ancient wisdom and modern science for the health and well-being of people and the planet. The WHO Center for Traditional Medicine strengthens existing WHO capacities in traditional medicine and complements WHO’s core functions in governance, standards and country support carried out in the six regional offices and at headquarters.
The Center focuses on partnership, evidence, data, biodiversity and innovation to optimize the contribution of traditional medicine to global health, universal health coverage and sustainable development, and is also guided by respect heritage, resources and local rights.
A interregional expert group provide advice on the Summit theme, format, topics and issues. All updates will be published here and on the upcoming web pages of the first WHO Global Summit on Traditional Medicine.
