Cabinet approves establishment of WHO Global Centre for Traditional Medicine in India

Contact Counsellor

Last Updated10/03/2022

The WHO GCTM will be established in Jamnagar under the Ministry of AYUSH.
By signing a Host Country agreement between the Government of India and the World Health Organization (WHO).

This would be the first and only global outposted Center (office) for traditional medicine across the globe.
WHO GCTM would emerge as a center of global wellness, bolster evidence –based research, training and awareness for Traditional Medicine.
WHO GCTM would provide leadership on all global health matters related to traditional medicine as well as extend support to member countries in shaping various policies related to traditional medicine research, practices and public health.

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 assess impact.
Envisage WHO TM Informatics centre creating a collaborative of existing TM Data banks, virtual libraries, and academic and research institutes.
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) is constituted for coordination, execution and monitoring of activities for the establishment of this Center.
JTF comprises representatives from the Government of India, Permanent Mission of India, Geneva and the World Health Organization.
An interim office is being established at the ITRA, Gujarat to execute the identified technical activities and planning of fully functional WHO GCTM.

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).
Sustainable development goals,
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.

On developing benchmarks documents on training and practice of Ayurveda and Unani System,
Introducing a second module in the Traditional Medicine Chapter of the International classification of Diseases-11,
Developing apps like M-yoga,
Supporting the work of International Pharmacopeia of Herbal Medicine (IPHM) and other research studies etc.

Traditional medicine is a key pillar of health care delivery systems and plays a crucial role in maintaining good health and well-being.
Safe and effective traditional medicine will play a significant role in ensuring all people have access to quality essential health care services.
Also access to safe, effective and affordable essential medicines as the world approaches the ten-year milestone for Sustainable Development Goals in 2030.
The WHO-GCTM will identify various challenges faced by the countries in regulating, integrating and further positioning Traditional Medicine in respective countries.
The upcoming WHO- GCTM and various other initiatives in collaboration with WHO will aid India in positioning traditional medicine across the globe.