TCIH Coalition had a meeting with WHO
During a virtual meeting with WHO Director-General Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus and a group of WHO senior officials, representatives of more than 300 civil society organisations (CSOs) and over 600 people brought the full force of the knowledge and expertise on traditional, complementary, and integrative health to the forefront This virtual dialogue was coordinated by the People’s Declaration for Traditional, Complementary and Integrative Healthcare.
This meeting held on 3 July was organised to discuss the priorities on traditional, complementary and integrative medicine in the lead-up to the WHO Traditional Medicine Global Summit on 17 and 18 August 2023 in Gandhinagar, Gujarat, India.
In his opening remarks, Dr Tedros said: “Traditional, complementary, and integrative health is rooted in the knowledge and resources of communities. For millions of people worldwide, it is their first stop for health and well-being and an integral part of their health system. For precisely these reasons, dialogues with civil society organisations are so important to WHO, as we shape our guidance and policy recommendations for countries.”
WHO has started the development of the new traditional medicine strategy 2025-2034 as requested by its Member States at the World Health Assembly in May 2023, during which they have also extended WHO traditional medicine strategy: 2014-2023 for another two years until 2025.
Suggestions and proposals from the civil society will contribute to this important task. They will also inform the work of the WHO Global Centre for Traditional Medicine to harness the potential of traditional medicine from across the world to improve the health of people and the planet. Furthermore, the dialogue will contribute to WHO’s work on traditional, complementary and integrative medicine (TCIM), which seeks to respond to requests from countries for evidence and data to inform policies and practice, global standards and regulations to ensure safety, quality, equitable access and use, and support for scientific, innovation and technological advances in traditional medicine practices.
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