The World Health Organisation has said the great strengths of traditional medicine is the understanding of the intimate links between the health of humans and their environment while committed to supporting countries to unlock the potential of traditional medicine.
WHO Director-General, Dr Tedro Ghebreyesus who dislosed this at the Traditional Medicine Summit in India on Wednesday, said throughout history, people in all countries and cultures used traditional healers, home remedies, ancient medicinal knowledge to meet their needs for health and well-being.
According to him, “Growing up in Ethiopia, a country with its own rich history of traditional medicine, I saw first-hand how communities relied on traditional practitioners for their health needs. Traditional medicine is not a thing of the past. There is a growing demand for traditional medicine across countries, communities and cultures.
“Traditional, complementary and integrative medicine is especially important for preventing and treating non-communicable diseases and mental health, and for healthy aging. Traditional medicine has a long history.
“Over 3 500 years ago, Sumerians and Egyptians used bark from the willow tree as a pain reliever and anti- inflammatory. The Ancient Greeks used it to ease the pain of childbirth and cure fevers. Then in 1897, the chemist Felix Hoffmann synthesized aspirin and the drug has gone on to improve, and save, lives of millions of people every day”, he said.
Ghebreyesus thanked India’s Prime Minister, Natanda Modi, the Govt and people of India and Gujarat for their hospitality, and for their leadership in traditional medicine, as part of their commitment to universal health coverage through the Ayushman Bharat scheme.
Adding that India has a rich history of traditional medicine through Ayuverda, including yoga, which has been shown to be effective in alleviating pain. “As someone who spent many years researching malaria transmission, I am inspired by Chinese scientist Tu Youyou, who leveraged traditional knowledge to achieve a breakthrough in malaria treatment.
“After testing unsuccessfully over 240 000 compounds for use in antimalarials – Tu Youyou turned to traditional Chinese medical literature for clues. There, she and her team found reference to sweet wormwood to treat fevers. In 1971, Tu Youyou’s team isolated artemisinin, an active compound in sweet wormwood that was particularly effective in treating malaria”.
He noted that traditional medicine has made enormous contributions to human health, and has enormous potential. “Through this summit, and WHO Global Centre for Traditional Medicine, WHO is working to build evidence data to inform policies, standards, regulations for the safe, cost-effective, and equitable use of traditional medicine.
“This is not a new area for WHO. In 2014, our Member States approved the first global 10-year strategy for traditional medicine. At this year’s World Health Assembly, Member States agreed to extend the strategy for an additional two years, and asked for a new 10-year strategy be developed for 2025 to 2034.
He emphasized that the summit is an important opportunity to advance the understanding and use of traditional medicine. “The Gujarat Declaration—the main outcome of this Global Summit if effectively implemented, will enhance appropriate integration of traditional medicine into national health systems”.
WHO DG urged all countries to commit to examining how best to integrate traditional, complementary medicine into their national health systems and to identify specific, evidence-based and actionable recommendations that can inform the next WHO traditional medicine global strategy.
Also urged countries to use this meeting as the starting point for a global movement to unlock the power of traditional medicine through science and innovation while thanking the India for its hospitality and colleagues, especially Shyama Kuruvilla, for her hard work in organizing this summit.