The Union Cabinet approved the establishment of a WHO Global Centre for Traditional Medicine (WHO GCTM) in Gujarat’s Jamnagar by signing a host country agreement, the first and only global outposted centre for traditional medicine across the globe.

The WHO GCTM will be established under the ministry of AYUSH. 

The agreement would help position AYUSH systems across the globe and provide leadership on global health matters pertaining to traditional medicine.

Traditional medicine

• Traditional medicine has a long history. It is the sum total of the knowledge, skill, and practices based on the theories, beliefs, and experiences indigenous to different cultures, whether explicable or not, used in the maintenance of health as well as in the prevention, diagnosis, improvement or treatment of physical and mental illness.

• The terms “complementary medicine” or “alternative medicine” refer to a broad set of health care practices that are not part of that country’s own tradition or conventional medicine and are not fully integrated into the dominant health care system. They are used interchangeably with traditional medicine in some countries.

• Traditional and complementary medicine (T&CM) is an important and often underestimated health resource with many applications, especially in the prevention and management of lifestyle-related chronic diseases, and in meeting the health needs of ageing populations. 

• Many countries are seeking to expand coverage of essential health services at a time when consumer expectations for care are rising, costs are soaring, and most budgets are either stagnant or being reduced. Given the unique health challenges of the 21st century, interest in T&CM is undergoing a revival.

WHO traditional medicine strategy 2014-2023

The WHO traditional medicine strategy 2014–2023 was developed and launched in response to the World Health Assembly resolution on traditional medicine. The strategy aims to support Member States in developing proactive policies and implementing action plans that will strengthen the role traditional medicine plays in keeping populations healthy. 

The strategy has two key goals: 

1) To support Member States in harnessing the potential contribution of T&CM to health, wellness and people-centred health care.

2) To promote the safe and effective use of T&CM through the regulation of products, practices and practitioners.

These goals will be reached by implementing three strategic objectives: 

i) Building the knowledge base and formulating national policies.

iii) Strengthening safety, quality and effectiveness through regulation.

iii) Promoting universal health coverage by integrating T&CM services and self-health care into national health systems.

Over 170 countries have acknowledged their use of T&CM. These are the countries that have, for example, formally developed policies, laws, regulations, programmes and offices for T&CM, and the actual number of countries using T&CM is likely to be even higher. 

Global Centre for Traditional Medicine in India

• On November 13, 2021, WHO Director General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus announced that it will set up a Global Centre for Traditional Medicine (GCTM) in India to strengthen the evidence, research, training and awareness of traditional and complementary medicine.

• This new centre will support the efforts to implement the WHO traditional medicine strategy 2014-2023 which aims to support countries in developing policies and action plans to strengthen the role of traditional medicine as part of their journey to universal health coverage and a healthier, fairer and safer world.

• A Joint Task Force (JTF) is constituted for coordination, execution and monitoring of activities for the establishment of this Centre.  

• JTF comprises representatives from the Indian government, Permanent Mission of India, Geneva and the WHO. 

• An interim office is being established at the Institute of Teaching and Research in Ayurveda (ITRA) in Jamnagar to execute the identified technical activities and planning of fully functional WHO GCTM.

• The WHO GCTM would provide leadership on all global health matters related to traditional medicine as well as extend support to member countries in shaping various policies related to traditional medicine research, practices and public health.

• It will identify various challenges faced by the countries in regulating, integrating and further positioning Traditional Medicine in respective countries.

• The setting up of WHO GCTM and various other initiatives in collaboration with WHO will aid India in positioning traditional medicine across the globe.

• It will ensure quality, safety, efficacy, accessibility and rational use of traditional medicine besides developing norms, standards, and guidelines in relevant technical areas, tools and methodologies, for collecting data, undertaking analytics, and assessing impact.  

Objectives of WHO GCTM:

• To position AYUSH systems across the globe.

• To provide leadership on global health matters pertaining to traditional medicine.

• To ensure quality, safety and efficacy, accessibility and rational use of traditional medicine.

• To develop norms, standards and guidelines in relevant technical areas, tools and methodologies, for collecting data undertaking analytics, and assess impact. 

• To establish WHO TM informatics centre creating a collaboration of existing TM data banks, virtual libraries, and academic and research institutes.

• To develop specific capacity building and training programmes in the areas of relevance to the objectives and conduct training programmes in campus, residential, or web-based, and through partnerships with the WHO Academy and other strategic partners.

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