Traditional medicine
WHO/Yoshi Shimizu
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Traditional medicine

Traditional medicine in the South-East Asia

People in the WHO South-East Asia Region have a long history of using traditional medicine for a wide range of health conditions. In some areas, traditional therapies are the main or even only source of health care, particularly in remote areas.

The majority of Member States in the South-East Asia Region have integrated traditional medicine into their national health-care delivery systems to varying degrees.

Following the Delhi Declaration on Traditional Medicine in 2013, and endorsement of the WHO Traditional Medicine Strategy 2014–2023, a regional action plan on traditional medicine was developed in October 2015. This has five areas of action:

  • Traditional medicine system monitoring
  • Catalyzing research on Traditional medicine system organization and management
  • Capacity-building of Traditional medicine practitioners/workforce
  • Adverse events reporting systems
  • Effective communication
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News

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Publications

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A review of traditional medicine research in Sri Lanka: 2015–2019

In 2014, the World Health Organization endorsed the WHO Traditional Medicine (TRM) Strategy 2014–2023 with the goals of harnessing the potential...

Traditional medicine in the WHO South-East Asia Region Review of progress 2014–2019

The quest for traditional health knowledge began at the dawn of civilization.Currently, at least 25% of all modern medicines are derived, either directly...

Pharmacovigilance and Traditional and Complementary Medicine in  South-East Asia

Many Member States of WHO's South-Eat Asia Region have a long history and rich heritage of using traditional medicine. They have integrated traditional...

Pharmacovigilance for traditional medicine products: Why and how?

The quest for traditional health knowledge began at the dawn of civilization.Currently, at least 25% of all modern medicines are derived, either directly...

Core and Reference Indicators for Monitoring Traditional and Complementary Medicine in South-East Asia

This document contains a set of core and reference indicators that can be used for monitoring traditional and complementary medicine (T&CM) systems...

The Pharmacovigilance System for Traditional Medicine in Thailand

Many Member States of the South-East Asia Region have a long history in and rich heritage of traditional medicine. They have also integrated traditional...

Implementation of global strategy and plan of action on public health, innovation and intelectual property

The National Assessment for implementation of the Global Strategy and Plan of Action on Public Health, Innovation and Intellectual Property (GSPA-PHI)...

Meeting reports

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Regional consultation on Draft Global Strategy for Traditional Medicine 2025:2034 and to set the research priorities for WHO SEA Region

The regional inputs are crucial for the draft WHO Global Strategy for Traditional Medicine 2025-2034 which is being formulated and the draft version...

Regional workshop to share experience and evidence on appropriate integration of traditional medicine into national health-care systems

Traditional medicine has long been a popular source of care in the maintenance of health, and the prevention and treatment of disease – especially...

Virtual workshop on pharmacovigilance (‎PV)‎ for traditional medicine (‎TRM)‎ products in the WHO South-East Asia Region

Given the wide use of traditional medicine (TRM) in the public and private health sectors among the Member States of the WHO South-East Asia (SEA) Region,...

Regional workshop on clinical research methodologies in traditional medicine for the WHO South-East Asia Region

Traditional medicine in South Asian countries has a rich heritage of usage. For millions of people in South Asia, traditional medicine represents the only...