Cabinet Approves Establishment Of WHO Global Centre For Traditional Medicine Under AYUSH Ministry

The WHO Global Centre for Traditional Medicine will be established in Jamnagar, Gujarat under the Ministry of AYUSH. This will help position AYUSH systems across the globe.

The WHO Global Centre for Traditional Medicine will be established in Jamnagar, Gujarat under the Ministry of AYUSH. This will help position AYUSH systems across the globe. | Representative Image: Getty

New Delhi: The Union Cabinet, chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, has approved the establishment of the WHO Global Centre for Traditional Medicine (WHO GCTM) in Jamnagar, Gujarat after a Host Country agreement was signed between the Government of India and the World Health Organization (WHO).

The WHO GCTM will be established in Jamnagar under the Ministry of AYUSH, and will be the first and only global outposted Centre (office) for traditional medicine, a statement issued by the Ministry of AYUSH said. 

The benefits of the WHO GCTM include AYUSH systems being positioned across the globe, and the provision of leadership on global health matters pertaining to traditional medicine. Also, the WHO GCTM will help ensure quality, safety and efficacy, accessibility and rational use of traditional medicine, and will help develop norms, standards, and guidelines in relevant technical areas, tools and methodologies, for collecting data undertaking analytics, and assess impact.  Envisage WHO TM Informatics centre creating a collaboration of existing TM Data banks, virtual libraries, and academic and research institutes. It will also be beneficial 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, the statement said. 

The Director General of the World Health Organization, Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghbereyesus, announced the establishment of WHO GCTM in India on the occasion of fifth Ayurveda Day on November 13, 2020, in the presence of the Honourable Prime Minister of India. According to the statement, the Prime Minister praised this initiative of the WHO and said that the WHO GCTM will emerge as a centre of global wellness, bolster evidence –based research, training and awareness for traditional medicine.

For coordination, execution and monitoring of activities for the establishment of this Centre, a Joint Task Force (JTF) has been constituted. The task force comprises representatives from the Government of India, Permanent Mission of India, Geneva and the World Health Organization, the statement said. An interim office is being established at the Institute of Teaching and Research in Ayurveda (ITRA), Jamnagar, to execute the identified technical activities and planning of the fully functional WHO GCTM.

According to the statement, the interim office is intended to deliver broadly on generation of evidence and innovation, artificial intelligence based solutions for traditional medicine, systematic reviews in collaboration with Cochrane, Global survey on traditional medicine data across WHO GPW 13 (Thirteenth General Programme of Work 2019-2023) and sustainable development goals. The office is also intended to deliver broadly on generation of traditional medicine socio-cultural and biodiversity heritage with a forward looking approach to sustainable development and management and cross-cutting functions, business operations and administrative processes for the establishment of the main office of WHO GCTM, the statement said.

The Centre will provide leadership on all global health matters which are related to traditional medicine, and will also extend support to member countries in shaping various policies related to traditional medicine research, practices and public health.

There are several fronts on which the Ministry of AYUSH has collaborated with the WHO. These include development of benchmarks documents on training and practice of Ayurveda and Unani System, introduction of a second module in the Traditional Medicine Chapter of the International classification of Diseases-11, development of apps like M-yoga, support of the work of International Pharmacopoeia of Herbal Medicine (IPHM) and other research studies.

According to the statement, the WHO GCTM and various other initiatives in collaboration with the WHO will help India in positioning traditional medicine across the globe. Also, the Centre will identify various challenges faced by the countries in regulating, integrating and further positioning traditional medicine in respective countries.