“According to a statement released by the organization earlier this week, India has committed $85 million over 10 years, 2022–2032 to support the programming of the World Health Organization (WHO) Global Traditional Medicine Centre and this decade-long contribution will support a cross-sectoral programme of work to strengthen the evidence base for traditional medicine by providing data and evidence on traditional medicine policies, practice, products, and public use.”
This donor agreement is part of a $250 million investment from India in support of establishing WHO Global Centre for Traditional Medicine in 2022 which includes financial resources to bankroll the centre’s work plan, interim facilities as well as new office space.
“Further still, some significant portion of this contribution from Government of India will be part of WHO’s Investment Round that will resource its core work for 2025–2028,’‘ observed WHO.
Bruce Aylward who is an assistant director-general at Universal Health Coverage and Life Course division at WHO stated that traditional medicine can enable health providers reach out to those most often left behind if integrated within national health systems. “”Integration of traditional practice and knowledge is critical to achieving health for all,” he said.
“This donor agreement marks a major step towards realizing the shared vision for development of Jamnagar based WHO Global Traditional Medicine Centre in India,” said Secretary Ministry Ayush Vaidya Rajesh Kotecha.
The WHO Global Traditional Medicine Centre is a knowledge hub working on five interconnected issues including research/evidence, Primary Healthcare/Universal Health Coverage (PHC/UHC), Indigenous Knowledges/Biodiversity, Digital Health Applications and WHO biennial Traditional Medicine summit and collaborations.
On the other hand; WHO has many solid partnerships with India regarding support for traditional medicine.
India entered into a five-year agreement with World Health Organization (WHO) in 2023 to offer technical backing to its Traditional, Complementary and Integrative Medicine (TCI) unit.
This unit develops key benchmark documents, standardised terminologies and other evidence-informed technical products to enhance the acceptability and credibility of the traditional medicine systems.
