“WHO is working to build the evidence and data to inform policies, standards, and regulations for the safe, cost-effective, and equitable use of traditional medicine”, WHO Chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said as he opened the traditional medicine global summit in Gandhinagar, India.
According to Tedros, traditional medicine can bridge healthcare “access gaps”, if used “appropriately, effectively, and above all, safely based on the latest scientific evidence.”
“We need to face a very important real-life fact that traditional medicines are very widely used,” Nobel laureate and chair of the WHO Science Council Harold Varmus added. “It is important to understand what ingredients are actually in traditional medicines, why they work in some cases… and importantly, we need to understand and identify which traditional medicines don’t work.”
Traditional medicine involves various healing practices, approaches, and knowledge that have been developed and used over generations within specific cultures or societies. It takes various forms, including herbal medicine, acupuncture, massage therapy, and so on. While some use these medicines due to cultural reasons, some use them because they do not have access to modern healthcare or are unable to afford modern healthcare services.
Ultimately, many see herbal medicines as effective and safe due to their natural components. However, scientists disagree. WHO pointed out that “Natural doesn’t always mean safe, and centuries of use are not a guarantee of efficacy; therefore, scientific method and process must be applied to provide the rigorous evidence required.”
Nonetheless, the significance of herbal medicines is undeniable as about 40 percent of approved pharmaceutical products in use are derive from a natural product basis, including aspirin whose formulation uses the bark of the willow tree.
WHO affirmed it was seeking to collect evidence and data to allow for the safe use of local medicine products.
