GENEVA – The World Health Organization (WHO) established its Global Centre for Traditional Medicine (GCTM) on Tuesday in India, with the goal of realising the potential of traditional medicine via the integration of old traditions and contemporary research.
The GCTM knowledge centre aims to develop a body of trustworthy evidence and data on traditional medicine practises and goods in order to aid in the development of standards and the cost-effective application of non-traditional medicine approaches.
The WHO said that when traditional medicine is used with evidence, innovation, and sustainability, it can be a game-changer for health. They said that traditional medicine is part of the growing health and wellness industries.
It will be at the Institute of Teaching and Research in Ayurveda until the new 14-hectare site in the city of Jamnagar is done by 2024.
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi accompanied WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus to Gujarat to lay the foundation stone.
Around 80% of the world’s population is said to practise traditional medicine, which includes herbal preparations, acupuncture, yoga, Ayurveda, and indigenous treatments.
First-line therapy
“For many millions of people worldwide, traditional medicine is the first line of defence against a wide variety of ailments,“ Tedros said at the event.
“By creating the WHO GCTM, we will be able to use the power of science to increase the evidence foundation for traditional medicine,” he said.
In the United Nations’ health agency, “traditional medicine” is what indigenous peoples and other cultures have used for a long time to keep their bodies and minds healthy and to prevent, diagnose, and treat physical and mental illnesses.
India has invested $250 million in the initiative, with Modi asserting that traditional medicine is a comprehensive science of life that will achieve worldwide prominence in the next 30 years.
Since 2018, 170 of the WHO’s 194 member nations have recognised their use of traditional and complementary medicine, but only 124 have reported having rules or regulations governing the use of herbal medicines—and only half have reported having a national policy on such techniques and medications.
According to the WHO, traditional medicine is gaining traction in contemporary science, with 40% of currently authorised pharmaceutical drugs derived from natural components.
It cited aspirin as being derived from willow tree bark formulations; the contraceptive pill as being derived from wild yam plant roots; child cancer treatments as being derived from rosy periwinkle; and the development of the anti-malaria drug artemisinin as being derived from ancient Chinese medicine texts. According to the United Nations’ health organisation, artificial intelligence is currently being used to map evidence and trends in traditional medicine and to test natural goods for pharmacokinetic qualities.
