Union Cabinet, chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, on Wednesday approved the establishment of the WHO Global Centre for Traditional Medicine (WHO GCTM) in Jamnagar, Gujarat.

The center came to being with the signing of a Host Country agreement between the Government of India and the World Health Organization (WHO), a Cabinet note after the meeting stated.

The WHO GCTM will be established in Jamnagar under the Ministry of AYUSH.  This would be the first and only global outposted Centre (office) for traditional medicine across the globe, the note further said.

Enlisting the benefits of setting up if WHO office for traditional medicine, the Union Cabinet maintained that it would position AYUSH systems across the globe, provide leadership on global health matters pertaining to traditional medicine besides ensuring quality, safety and efficacy, accessibility and rational use of traditional medicine.

The center would also help develop norms, standards, and guidelines in relevant technical areas, tools and methodologies, for collecting data undertaking analytics, and assess impact. It envisages WHO TM Informatics centre creating a collaborative of existing TM Data banks, virtual libraries, and academic and research institutes.

The centre would facilitate development To of 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.

Tedros Adhanom Ghbereyesus announced the establishment of WHO GCTM in India on the occasion of 5th Ayurveda Day on 13 November, 2020 in the presence of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.  Modi praised the initiative of WHO and mentioned that WHO GCTM would emerge as a centre of global wellness, bolster evidence –based research, training and awareness for Traditional Medicine.

A Joint Task Force (JTF) has been constituted for coordination, execution and monitoring of activities for the establishment of this Centre.  JTF comprises representatives from the Government of India, Permanent Mission of India, Geneva and the World Health Organization.  Under the ambit of this, an interim office is being established at the ITRA, Jamnagar, Gujarat to execute the identified technical activities and planning of fully functional WHO GCTM.

The interim office aims  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, 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 main office of WHO GCTM, the Cabinet note added.

“The 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,” according the government note.

The Ministry of AYUSH has collaborated with WHO on many fronts including 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 and safe, effective and affordable essential medicines as the world approach 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 Cabinet note said.