The Union Cabinet presided over by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, has approved the establishment of the WHO Global Centre for Traditional Medicine (WHO GCTM) in Jamnagar, Gujarat, by signing of a Host Country agreement with the World Health Organization (WHO).
The WHO GCTM will be based in Jamnagar and would be overseen by the Ministry of AYUSH and would be the world’s first centre (office) for traditional medicine. Tedros Adhanom Ghbereyesus, Director General of the WHO, had announced the establishment of GCTM in India on the occasion of the 5th Ayurveda Day on November 13, 2020, in the presence of PM Narendra Modi. PM Modi commended WHO’s plan, stating that the WHO GCTM would become a centre of global wellness, bolstering evidence-based research, training, and awareness for Traditional Medicine.
The benefit of the establishment of the WHO GCTM centre would be:
– 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 assessing impact.
– 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.
A Joint Task Force (JTF) has been formed to coordinate, carry out, and monitor activities related to the establishment of this Centre. The JTF is made up of delegates from the Government of India, India’s Permanent Mission in Geneva, and the World Health Organization.
The WHO GCTM would provide global leadership on all traditional medicine-related global health issues, as well as assistance to member countries in developing various policies relating to traditional medicine research, practises, and public health.
The Ministry of AYUSH has collaborated with WHO on a variety of fronts, including developing benchmark documents on Ayurveda and Unani System training and practise, introducing the second module in the Traditional Medicine Chapter of the International Classification of Diseases-11, developing apps such as M-yoga, supporting the work of the International Pharmacopoeia of Herbal Medicine (IPHM), and other research studies.
Traditional medicine is a critical component of healthcare delivery systems and plays an important part in sustaining good health and well-being. As the globe approaches the ten-year mark for the Sustainable Development Goals in 2030, safe and effective traditional medicine will play a vital role in ensuring all people have access to excellent essential health care services and safe, effective, and cheap essential medicines.
The planned WHO-GCTM and other initiatives in conjunction with WHO will assist India in establishing a global presence for traditional medicine.
